The deadly mass shooting at Brown University had a team of scientists at the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory working around the clock to examine evidence.
Scientists at the lab, based in Meriden, conducted a handful of tests to get answers surrounding the Dec.13 mass shooting and its link to the subsequent slaying of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor.
State officials pinged the lab’s director Dr. Guy Vallaro for help in the investigation.
“We said yes and we called staff to come in and start analyzing the evidence,” Vallaro said. “We analyzed a number of pieces of evidence for latent prints, DNA, gunshot residue, and firearms, and we gave results back in a timely fashion.”
Within hours, scientists were able to provide federal and state officials with crucial answers. They confirmed one of the two firearms found with the shooting suspect in New Hampshire was used in the mass shooting at Brown University. Another firearm, they confirmed, was connected with the murder of Dr. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a professor at MIT.
The gunman killed two students and wounded nine others in an engineering building. A few days later on Dec. 15, Lourerio was fatally shot in his home in the Boston area. Authorities eventually found the body of the suspected shooter Claudio Neves Valente, 48, in New Hampshire on Dec. 18, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities believe Valente is responsible for the shooting and the slaying of the MIT professor.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives both applauded the lab for its work in a statement.
"Their behind-the-scenes effort has allowed for the rapid scientific confirmation of the facts of this investigation,” the federal agencies said.
The Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory is known in the region for its advanced equipment and speedy analysis of crime scene evidence.
“That was one of the key factors for this case, is that they wanted rapid turnaround time. And that’s how it happened,” Cheryl Carreiro, the deputy director of Forensic Biology and DNA, said.
Scientists used rapid DNA testing equipment, test-firing, and specialized ballistic analysis machines in its forensic analysis for the investigation.
That equipment, used in tandem with an extensive database called National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), can help tie shell casings to any additional crime scenes, as well as linking people to the guns they fired.
“What we did was we entered one of the cartridge cases from the Brown University to search through NIBIN to see if there were any links to any additional other crime scenes,” said Cindy Lopes-Phelan, the deputy director of the identification section.
Scientists were also able to use the guns recovered in New Hampshire for similar type of testing.
