The family of Luigi Mangione, the former Ivy League student charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, said they were “devastated” by his arrest. The 26-year-old alleged gunman underwent surgery after it emerged he had fallen into a vicious cycle after recovering from his 'trauma'.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest,” the family broke their silence late Monday night in a statement shared by his cousin, Republican Baltimore County Delegate Nino Mangione.
“We send Brian Thompson's family our prayers and ask everyone to pray for everyone involved. We are shocked by this news,” the Mangione family said.
Relatives added that they “cannot comment on reports” about the murder suspect who was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday morning after a frantic five-day search.
“We only know what we read in the media,” the family said.
Luigi Mangione was called to police by an Altoona McDonald's employee who recognized the suspect from a photo released by the New York City Police Department.
According to the criminal complaint, he was approached by local police while eating at a restaurant and asked if he had been to New York recently, at which point he “started shaking,'' he said.
He provided them with a fake New Jersey ID (which he likely used to check into a Manhattan hostel before the murder) and was taken into custody.
Police found a ghost gun with a silencer and other items “consistent” with what police searched, sources say, adding that “these parasites arrived” among them. It also included a rambling handwritten manifesto.
“I apologize for the trauma-induced conflict, but it had to be done,” he wrote.
Luigi Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, comes from a wealthy real estate family prominent in the Maryland community.
He grew up in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, where his family owns two large country clubs, a local radio station, and several other properties.
Law enforcement officials say he became estranged from friends and family in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
Mangione's mother reported him missing on Nov. 18, possibly from the San Francisco home where he lived for a time, and contacted friends who were trying to trace him.
What we know about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- Brian Thompson, CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a luxury midtown hotel on Wednesday, police said.
- Mr. Thompson was appointed CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Justice Department.
- Thompson's wife, Paulette, said she had received threats before her husband was killed.
- The Thompson shooting sparked an online frenzy and even sparked a tasteless lookalike contest in New York.
- A dignitary was arrested by police inside a McDonald's store in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
- The suspect has been identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, of Towson, Maryland. He was a former Ivy League student who hated the medical world.
Follow the Post's live updates on news about Brian Thompson's murder.
One former classmate from the Gilman School in Baltimore said: new york times He believed his face had become darker after back surgery a few months ago.
A friend and former roommate in Hawaii also told CNN that Mangione had talked about his back problems in the past.
“I remember when I first interviewed him before he moved, he said he had back problems and wanted to get stronger in Hawaii,” RJ Martin said.
Mangione's back pain was so “traumatic and difficult” that he was bedridden for a week after just taking basic surfing lessons, his roommate said.
Martin said a friend sent her an X-ray image when she underwent surgery.
“It looked brutal, just a giant screw driven into the spine,” he said.
Other former high school friends said the high-achieving valedictorian went “completely insane” after the surgery, according to Jack Mack, staffer at sports and pop culture outlet Barstool Sports. That's what it means.
“I spoke to a source who has a number of friends who went to high school with Luigi Mangione. A series of back surgeries “changed everything” for him and drove him “completely crazy.” It is.” Mac revealed in X.
Law enforcement officials said at an evening news conference in Pennsylvania that Mangione has “not made any statements” since his arrest.
Hours after being indicted on weapons and forgery charges in Pennsylvania, he was charged with murder in New York.
Thompson, 50, was gunned down last Wednesday as he walked alone and unprotected into the Hilton Hotel, where UnitedHealthcare's parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference.
