This undated photo provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in December 2025 shows Nuno Loureiro. (Jake Belcher/MIT via AP)2025-12-17T14:56:49Z BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) Police intensified their search Wednesday for a suspect in the killing of professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, two days after he was shot to death at his home outside Boston.Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot Monday night at his apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts. He died at a local hospital on Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorneys Office said in a statement.The prosecutors office said the homicide investigation was active and ongoing as of early afternoon Wednesday and had no update earlier they had said no suspects were in custody.The investigation into the MIT professors killing comes as Brown University, another prestigious institution just 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Providence, Rhode Island, is reeling from an unsolved shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others Saturday. Investigators provided no indication Tuesday that they were any closer to zeroing in on the gunmans identity. AP AUDIO: Shooting of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro has police still searching for a suspect AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on the search for a suspect in the shooting death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor at his home. The FBI on Tuesday said it knew of no connection between the crimes.Dozens of people gathered outside Lourieros building Tuesday night, many with candles in hand, to honor the professors life and support his family. Neighbors received paper notices attached to their doors with tape to place candles in their windows in Lourieros honor. Some people cried and held each other, but most attendees were silent, their breath visible in the bracing cold. A few children rode scooters from their nearby homes to the gathering. The killing happened when most MIT students were on winter break, and more than a dozen of them on the Cambridge campus on Wednesday didnt want to talk about it. Most said they didnt know him. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on A 22-year-old student at Boston University who lives near Loureiros apartment in Brookline told The Boston Globe she heard three loud noises Monday evening and feared it was gunfire. I had never heard anything so loud, so I assumed they were gunshots, Liv Schachner was quoted as saying. Its difficult to grasp. It just seems like it keeps happening. Loureiro, who was married, joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead MITs Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he worked to advance clean energy technology and other research. The center, one of the schools largest labs, had more than 250 people working across seven buildings when he took the helm. He was a professor of physics and nuclear science and engineering. He grew up in Viseu, in central Portugal, and studied in Lisbon before earning a doctorate in London, according to MIT. He was a researcher at an institute for nuclear fusion in Lisbon before joining MIT, the university said.He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner, Dennis Whyte, an engineering professor who previously led MITs Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication.The president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth, said in a statement that the killing was a shocking loss. The office of Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also put out a condolence statement calling Loureiros death an irreparable loss for science and for all those with whom he worked and lived. Loureiro had said he hoped his work would shape the future.Its not hyperbole to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanitys biggest problems, Loureiro said when he was named to lead the plasma science lab last year. Fusion energy will change the course of human history. ___Associated Press writers Leah Willingham in Boston; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and David Biller in Rome contributed. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto