A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was shot and killed inside his suburban Boston home.
The suspect fled the scene and is currently being sought by police. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was found fatally wounded in his home on Monday night and pronounced dead at the hospital on Tuesday. He was mourned by the university, described as an “imaginative scholar, gifted administrator, and enthusiastic mentor” by MIT President Sally Kornbluth in a statement.
“In the face of this shocking loss, our hearts go out to his wife and their family and to his many devoted students, friends, and colleagues,” she said.
“This shocking loss for our community comes in a period of disturbing violence in many other places. It’s entirely natural to feel the need for comfort and support,” Kornbluth continued. “In time, the many communities Nuno belonged to will create opportunities to mourn his loss and celebrate his life.”
Dozens gathered outside Loureiro’s home for a candlelight vigil.
The U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, John Arrigo, also extended his condolences.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Nuno Loureiro, who led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. We honor his life, his leadership in science, and his enduring contributions,” he said in a statement.
Loureiro had emigrated from Portugal and joined MIT in 2016. At the time of his death, he was a faculty member in the departments of Nuclear Science & Engineering and Physics and the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
His murder comes just one day after the Brown University shooting, leading to some speculation that the two could be connected. However, a law enforcement source with knowledge of both investigations told ABC News there was no evidence to suggest a connection between the two.
He was widely mourned by his fellow faculty, who inundated him with praise.
“Nuno was not only a brilliant scientist, he was a brilliant person,” Dennis Whyte, the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, who previously served as the head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told MIT News. “He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner. His loss is immeasurable to our community at the PSFC, NSE and MIT, and around the entire fusion and plasma research world.”
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Several mourned his death as a major blow to scientific advancement in the field of plasma physics.
“Nuno was a champion for plasma physics within the Physics Department, a wonderful and engaging colleague, and an inspiring and caring mentor for graduate students working in plasma science. His recent work on quantum computing algorithms for plasma physics simulations was a particularly exciting new scientific direction,” Deepto Chakrabarty, the William A. M. Burden Professor in Astrophysics and head of the Department of Physics, told the outlet.
