Nuno Loureiro, a prominent nuclear science professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been found dead in his home.
According to The New York Post, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office announced that the MIT professor was found dead inside his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, by police after officers received reports about a man shot around 8:30 pm on Monday night.
The 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning, December 16.
The district attorney said, “This is an active and ongoing homicide investigation. No further information is being released at this time.”
As per prosecutors, the investigation is underway, and no suspect was arrested or linked with the incident as of Tuesday afternoon.
Brookline Police Deputy Superintendent Paul Campbell told WBZ-TV News Loureiro “had been shot multiple times.”
Loureiro joined MIT in 2016 and was named as director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center last year.
A school spokesman in a statement to The Post said, “Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving. Focused outreach and conversations are taking place within our community to offer care and support for those who knew Prof. Loureiro, and a message will be shared with our wider community.”
Notably, at the time of death, Loureiro was leading one of the largest labs at MIT, with more than 250 full-time researchers.
