Neighbors mourn MIT professor Nuno Louriero shot dead in home: ‘We’re living in such terrible times’

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office announced that Loureiro was shot at the entrance of his Brookline apartment on Monday night. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared deceased the following morning.

Less than a day after the incident, residents surrounded the three‑story building to pay tribute and discuss how rare that level of violence seemed in what had been a peaceful neighborhood.

“It’s scary to be in Brookline,” said local resident Lloyd Rosenthal to Boston 25 News. “It’s supposed to be safe, [but] no one’s talking.”

Both the Brookline Police Department and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office have opened an investigation, but no suspect has been named as of yet, according to the Massachusetts State Police.

“I heard three loud bangs,” an unnamed neighbour told Boston 25 News. “At first, I thought it might be someone in our building trying to break in.”

“I don’t know what happened or why it happened,” Anne Greenwald, another resident, said to the outlet. “It’s very scary, though. We’re living in such terrible times right now that it seems like violence is just happening everywhere.”

Eurydice Hirsey, a fellow Brookliner, shared how she met Loureiro through his wife, Ines, and explained that the family has three children ranging from elementary grade to college. She said, “We take [dance] classes together several times a week,” and added that she’d only just seen her before the tragedy.

“It’s a family that’s feeling such raw horror… terror,” Hirsey told Fox News Digital. “And what do you do with something that’s indescribable?”

Hirsey’s husband echoed that “only answer to terrorism is a strong civil society.” He continued, “And in the meantime, we face a lot of hate and suffering.”

He added that the family is dealing with overwhelming grief and calls for community support.

Loureiro was a respected researcher who joined MIT in 2016 and stepped into the leadership of its Plasma Science and Fusion Center the prior year, where he focused on advancing clean‑energy technology—an effort highlighted by the Associated Press. That center is one of MIT’s biggest laboratories, employing more than 250 staff members under his direction, according to the university’s website.

When contacted, Ted Docks, the special agent in charge of FBI Boston, clarified that the authorities found no link between the murder of Loureiro and the shooting incident that occurred at Brown University, about 50 miles away, which left two students dead and nine injured over the weekend.

Beyond his work at MIT, Loureiro had an impressive academic line: a physics degree from Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon in 2000, a PhD from Imperial College London in 2005, postdoctoral stints at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the UKAEA Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, and a research position at IST Lisbon’s Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion before joining the U.S. university.

Neither the Brookline Police Department, Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, nor the Massachusetts State Police responded promptly to inquiries from Fox News Digital.

MIT’s spokesperson, Kimberly Allen, expressed her condolences: “Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving. We’re coordinating outreach and conversations within our community to offer care and support to anyone who knew Prof. Loureiro, and we’ll share an update with the broader community.”

The U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, John J. Arrigo, posted on social media: “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.”