Baghdad: US authorities announced the murder of a nuclear science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who was shot dead in his home in the upscale Brooklyn neighborhood of Boston. Nuno Loureiro, 47, was pronounced dead on Tuesday after being found with injuries inside his home.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office stated that the case is an "active and open homicide investigation," without disclosing further details at this time. MIT explained that Loureiro was a professor in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics, and also served as director of the institute's Center for Plasma and Fusion Science.

In an official statement, the university expressed its condolences, saying: "Our deepest condolences go out to his family, students, colleagues, and all who mourn his loss." Loureiro's research interests focused on the theory and computer simulation of nonlinear plasma dynamics, as noted in his biography on the MIT website.

He joined the MIT faculty in 2016 after working as a researcher at the Plasma and Nuclear Fusion Institute at the Institute of Science and Technology in Lisbon, the university said. MIT confirmed that the institute's police department is cooperating with the investigation, which is being led by the Massachusetts State Police. The university added that it will not be issuing any further comments at this time, in accordance with the ongoing investigation.