The frantic manhunt for a gunman after a deadly shooting at Brown University has upended assumptions about modern crime-solving, revealing the surprising limitations of pervasive surveillance and the unexpected value of a vigilant online community.
The Search That Flipped the Script
More than a decade after the chaotic search for the Boston Marathon bombers, a key lesson seemed clear: widespread surveillance technology could aid investigations, while amateur online detectives on platforms like Reddit often caused harmful distractions. However, the intense five-day search this month for a suspect in a shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, which killed two students and wounded nine others, dramatically reversed those expectations.
Sweeping AI-powered surveillance, now embedded in doorbells, vehicles, and city-wide camera networks, did eventually help authorities track the movements of Claudio Neves Valente, the 48-year-old former graduate student believed responsible for the 13 December shooting and a subsequent killing in Brookline, Massachusetts. Yet, in the critical early stages, this technology was of little use. The gunman evaded capture by using a hard-to-trace phone, obscuring his face with a mask to avoid facial recognition, and switching license plates on rental cars.
The Reddit Tip That Broke the Case
The breakthrough came not from algorithms, but from human observation. A local Reddit user, known only as John, posted an old-fashioned tip on the platform's Providence forum, urging police to investigate a Nissan sedan with Florida plates. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha later stated this tip "blew this case right open."
After fellow Redditors urged him to contact the FBI, John did so and later identified himself to police on the street. His information revitalised the stalled investigation. With a specific vehicle identified, Providence police could then scour footage from dozens of Flock Safety cameras—AI-powered devices that read license plates and track vehicle details like colour, make, and even distinctive marks.
According to a police affidavit, these cameras had spotted the vehicle at least 14 times in the two weeks before the shooting. This data allowed police to coordinate with neighbouring jurisdictions using the same system, though privacy restrictions in New Hampshire limited its reach. The suspect was found dead in Salem, New Hampshire, days after apparently taking his own life.
A Contrast to Past Online Vigilantism
This outcome stands in stark contrast to the infamous "Reddit Detective Agency" response during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing manhunt, where online sleuths falsely implicated a missing Brown University student. Liza Potts, a professor at Michigan State University who studied the online response, noted, "It definitely went sideways in the Boston Marathon situation."
This time, the Providence subreddit's volunteer moderators, mindful of that past trauma, worked to prevent witch hunts. The forum's chief moderator, speaking anonymously, said the community was "very sensitive about not trying to go on a witch hunt." This proactive moderation helped keep harmful accusations largely off the platform, even as false smears targeting a current Brown student circulated on other social media sites like X.
The Limits and Ethics of Surveillance Tech
While the Flock camera network proved instrumental once a vehicle was identified, it has clear limitations. Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley emphasised the cameras are designed for vehicles, not people, stating, "It is a technical impossibility. The camera does not have an ability for a user to search for people."
The proliferation of such cameras has also raised privacy concerns. Madalyn McGunagle of the ACLU of Rhode Island noted the distinct-looking devices, with a solar panel and oval camera, are becoming ubiquitous. Flock asserts that its customers control data sharing and that Providence does not share data with federal immigration agents, a point of wariness in some immigrant communities.
In the end, the crucial lead came from a resident's intuition. As the Providence subreddit moderator put it, "Someone who is in the area and sees stuff all the time, they’re going to be better in a lot of ways than a random camera. John saw this guy going back and forth, unlocking his car and all that, and he just thought it was kind of weird."
