By Zoe Sottile, CNN
(CNN) — His detailed tip helped lead investigators to the gunman behind the deadly Brown University shooting – but whether the tipster known only as “John” will ever receive the $50,000 reward offered by the FBI is still an open question.
After two students were fatally shot and nine wounded at the Providence, Rhode Island, school December 13, the FBI announced it would offer a $50,000 reward for “information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual responsible.”
One crucial tip, which first appeared as a comment on Reddit with details about the suspect’s vehicle, provided vital information for investigators as they hunted the man they say opened fire at Brown’s engineering building before gunning down a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor at his home days later. The Reddit comment helped officers narrow in on the suspect’s rental vehicle, which they traced to a Salem, New Hampshire, storage facility where he was found dead.
For Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, the tip – which was cited in an affidavit and arrest warrant for the shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente – was so important that the tipster deserves all of the $50,000. He argued as much in a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel.
“John is no less than a hero,” Smiley said in the letter, which his office shared with CNN. “His bravery, selflessness and stewardship on behalf of his community went far beyond what anyone could ever hope from a tip.”
There’s just one hiccup: Because Valente, a Portuguese national who briefly studied at Brown’s physics department more than 20 years ago but never completed his degree, was found dead, there will never be an arrest and conviction, which the FBI specified in offering the reward.
It’s unclear how the FBI might respond to the mayor’s request. A spokesperson for the bureau told CNN “the FBI will not comment on whether reward money has been paid and to whom” for “privacy protection, and to ensure the public’s continued cooperation and incentivization with any future assistance.”
Smiley was resolute in his letter. “I believe that our community is breathing easier today because of the extraordinary assistance John provided to our law enforcement agencies,” he wrote. “I am writing to you today to request that the entirety of the $50,000 reward be issued to this incredible Providence neighbor.”
Reddit post provided key details about suspect’s vehicle
John’s comment on Reddit was one of countless made in communities dedicated to Providence and true crime generally, as users discussed the extended manhunt and the baffling set of crimes that disturbed the close-knit academic communities at Brown and MIT.
But John wasn’t just speculating about the shooting. He said he had seen the suspect, who was shown in photos and videos from authorities, opening and backing away from a gray Nissan parked near the gates of the Rhode Island Historical Society.
“I’m being dead serious,” the post, quoted in the affidavit for Valente’s arrest, reads. “The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That was the car he was driving.”
A tip about the Reddit post led police to identify a “grey/blue Nissan sedan” in surveillance videos.
He ‘blew this case wide open’
John’s help went beyond just the Reddit post.
Four days after the shooting at Brown’s engineering buildi