Luigi Mangione, 26, has been charged with murder in connection with the December 4 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. His arrest occurred on December 9 at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where a customer recognized him from police images and alerted the authorities. Mangione was found with several counterfeit IDs and a firearm believed to be linked to the crime.
### Background and Arrest Details
At a press conference, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny revealed that Mangione had grown up in Baltimore, with his last known residence in Honolulu. Following his arrest, a troubling picture of Mangione's recent life emerged. Friends and family noted that he had been dealing with chronic back pain and had undergone spinal surgery earlier in the year. Reports indicate that he became increasingly isolated, ceasing communication with loved ones months before the shooting[1][3][9].
Mangione's former classmates expressed disbelief at the charges against him. Aaron Cranston, a high school friend, described him as intelligent and ambitious, while Freddie Leatherbury emphasized that he was well-liked and socially well-adjusted. Another acquaintance from Hawaii, R.J. Martin, recounted how Mangione led a book club and enjoyed outdoor activities but suffered significant pain after a surfing injury.
Luigi Mangione’s alleged manifesto published by @kenklippenstein:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 10, 2024
“To the Feds, I'll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some… pic.twitter.com/EJqh8DdT4g
### The Incident
The shooting of Brian Thompson occurred outside a Manhattan hotel, where he was shot from behind by an assailant wearing a mask. Following the incident, law enforcement launched an extensive manhunt. Mangione was identified as a person of interest shortly after the shooting due to his resemblance to surveillance images released by police.
On December 9, police were alerted to Mangione's presence at the McDonald's after a customer recognized him. When approached by officers, he appeared nervous and provided a fake ID. Upon further questioning, he admitted his true identity and was arrested on multiple charges including murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
### Family Response
In the wake of his arrest, Mangione's family expressed shock and devastation through a statement shared on social media. They mentioned their limited knowledge of the situation beyond what has been reported in the media.
As investigations continue, authorities examine evidence of Mangione's motive and whether he acted alone in this high-profile case that has drawn significant public attention.
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Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged with murder in the shooting of a top UnitedHealth executive, briefly struggled with officers and angrily shouted while being escorted into a Pennsylvania courthouse on Tuesday, as a clearer picture of his motives began to emerge a day after his arrest ended a massive manhunt.
GHOST GUN, BRAZEN ESCAPE
I don't know about the rest of the nation, but we here in New York City have been following this healthcare CEO murder case with bated breath. And as of yesterday, it appears that the authorities have found their man:
Immediately, jokes and memes poured forth across the internet:
But once you clear through the humor of an attractive guy with extremely prominent eyebrows and a cartoonishly Italian name, a darker story emerges. Here are some of the details we've learned about young Luigi and his fall from grace:
NY Times- He was the valedictorian of a prestigious Baltimore prep school who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Pennsylvania and served as a head counselor at a pre-college program at Stanford University.
He was also valedictorian of his elite private school, Gilman, where he played soccer, ran cross country, and had a lot of friends.
“Those are both such disciplined sports. It says a lot about who he was as a student,” Mr. Leatherbury said. “He was very smart, a pretty big math guy, really well read and quite well liked to be honest. I don’t have any bad memories of him. He had a very healthy social circle.”
Calling cross country a sport is generous, sure. As Kenny Powers said, I'm not trying to be the best at exercising. Even so, this guy is not even close to your prototypical disillusioned loner who was bullied, found solace in violent video games, listened to screamo music, and wore trench coats and black eyeliner under constantly wet hair. In every photo of this guy, he seems happy, chiseled, and heading for a promising future.
Which brings us to our collective effort to find some motive for his decision to murder the United Healthcare CEO in broad daylight in Manhattan. It's 2024, and we've all seen enough true crime docs at this point to know that the police have figured out how to catch people who do this kind of shit now. Luigi definitely knew he was probably toast, as he wrote a manifesto and kept it in his pocket that has him fessing up to the deed. So far, the best we seem to have come up with is that he suffered from serious back pain:
But Mr. Mangione was suffering from painful back issues, he said. “His spine was kind of misaligned,” he said. “He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve.”
Still, Mr. Martin said, he and others in the community came to understand that the pain was no small matter to a young man yearning for a normal lifestyle. “He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” Mr. Martin said. “I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.”
This is extremely weird to me. I've had a lot of lower back pain in my life. In 7th grade, I was known for having an extremely long throw-in from the soccer sidelines that was basically as good as a corner kick. I'd take almost all of the throw-ins from our offensive third of the field on my premier soccer team, which saw us winning states and qualifying for the Snickers Cup in Buffalo. But the repeated stresses of bending and uncoiling my spine from those monstrous throw-ins resulted in a stress fracture of my L5S1 vertebra, and I was placed in a back brace for the entirety of my 7th-grade year. I had to use a ruler to scratch my back and, with puberty in full swing, the frustrations of being the back brace kid when everyone around you is cupping boobs in closets had me ready to run through a goddamn wall.
That was a long time ago. But I can still distinctly remember that not once, not ever, did I grow so frustrated from my back pain as to consider murdering a healthcare CEO.
My Ivy League education did not foment thoughts of upending the corrupt healthcare industry with veiled messages written on bullet casings. I've been to Hawaii—recently, in fact—and I did not return from its balmy shores with thoughts of murder. The point is, we're going to have to dig a little deeper to "justify" why this young man murdered Brian Thompson. Because everything I'm hearing simply doesn't cut it.
What a weird and wild story. Somehow this dude has become a folk hero because everyone in America fucking hates insurance companies. Yet he's also the portrait of privilege and someone that I would think most people would despise. On a political note, I would think this kid would have more people pretzeled on how to feel about the story.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school, and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities.
Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties.
Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street.
The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, and unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer.
But Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sharply refuted that perception after Mangione’s arrest on Monday when a customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania spotted Mangione eating and noticed he resembled the shooting suspect in security-camera photos released by New York police.
“In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this, he is no hero,” Shapiro said. “The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.”
Mangione’s family and upbringing
Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather, Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978.
The Mangione family also purchased Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore in 1986. On Monday, Baltimore County police officers blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to Luigi Mangione’s parents. Reporters and photographers gathered outside the entrance.
The father of 10 children, Nick Mangione prepared his five sons — including Luigi Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione — to help manage the family business, according to a 2003 Washington Post report. Nick Mangione had 37 grandchildren, including Luigi, according to the grandfather’s obituary.
Luigi Mangione’s grandparents donated to charities through the Mangione Family Foundation, according to a statement from Loyola University commemorating Nick Mangione’s wife’s death in 2023. They donated to various causes, including Catholic organizations, colleges, and the arts.
One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media by Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
Mangione’s education and work history
Mangione, who was valedictorian of his elite Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press.
He learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication.
His social media posts suggest he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends at the Jersey Shore and in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, and other destinations.
The Gilman School, from which Mangione graduated in 2016, is one of Baltimore’s elite prep schools. The children of some of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent residents, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., have attended the school. Its alumni include sportswriter Frank Deford and former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington.
In his valedictory speech, Luigi Mangione described his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.”
Mangione took a software programming internship after high school at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis, where he fixed bugs on the hit strategy game Civilization 6, according to a LinkedIn profile. Firaxis’ parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said it would not comment on former employees.
He more recently worked at the car-buying website TrueCar, but has not worked there since 2023, the head of the Santa Monica, California-based company confirmed to the AP.
Time in Hawaii and reports of back pain
From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu.
Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin.
“Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.”
At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, including surfing, Ryan said.
“He went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back,” Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym.
Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. An image posted to a social media account linked to Mangione showed what appeared to be an X-ray of a metal rod and multiple screws inserted into someone’s lower spine.
Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.
An X account linked to Mangione includes recent posts about the negative impact of smartphones on children; healthy eating and exercise habits; psychological theories; and a quote from Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti about the dangers of becoming “well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
Police report a darker turn
Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by AP.
He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts.
He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said.
Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said.
Hawai‘i friends of Luigi Mangione, arrested in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, recall him as a natural leader who led a book club where members would share ideas while watching sunsets from a place called Magic Island.
“He was just such a thoughtful and deeply compassionate person at everything he did,” said Jackie Wexler, a food technologist in New York. She used to live with Mangione at Surfbreak, a co-living space near Honolulu’s Ala Moana Beach Park.
Mangione, 26, lived at Surfbreak from January to June 2022, and even then suffered chronic back pain from an apparent pinched nerve, said R.J. Martin, Surfbreak’s founder. His island friends stopped hearing from him this summer.
He said he was stunned by Mangione’s arrest. “I loved this guy,” said Martin. “In some ways, I feel like my members are my kids.”
Wexler had attended the University of Pennsylvania with Mangione, she says but didn’t become friends with him until they were both living on O‘ahu at Surfbreak. Originally envisioned as long-term housing for graduate students, Surfbreak morphed into a sort of adult dorm for, as its website says,“ adventurers, remote workers, and mindful travelers united by shared life in our co-living + coworking spaces.”
Mangione was arrested in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s restaurant on Monday and charged with five crimes, including carrying ga un without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to the authorities, and possessing “instruments of crime.” He is suspected of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week in New York City.
Surfbreak residents are expected to contribute to the community, and Mangione played a role by founding the book club with Wexler and Martin. They recall Mangione had recently read Yuval Noah Harari’s “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” and was enthusiastic about sharing ideas with friends.
The book club’s reading list included “What’s Our Problem,” by Tim Urban, the creator of the blog “Wait But Why,” and “The Ape that Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve,” by Steve Stewart Williams, Wexler and Martin said.
Wexler recalls Mangione as a thoughtful man who facilitated discussions by deeply listening. Martin, a former college professor who has a doctorate in history, said Mangione had a rare ability to articulate ideas in the books they read.
“I feel like he did a better job of parsing through the nuances of things,” Martin said.
Wexler and Martin said they had suggested the book club read the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, as “a joke.” Mangione reviewed it on a Goodreads account, which has been widely cited on social media on Monday.
The rambling screed proved “painful to read” and so hard to engage with that it led to the demise of the club, Martin said.
Mangione was committed to personal development through reading and working out. He got around O‘ahu by bicycle, and even after he moved out of Surfbreak he would walk with Wexler from Magic Island to Surfbreak, located in the penthouse of a building near the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
But it wasn’t all idyllic. Mangione was often in pain from a back problem, Martin said, although the two would still rock climb together at HiClimb, a gym in KakaÊ»ako near Surfbreak.
Martin recalled the problem, which had lingered for years, was a misaligned vertebrae that would pinch Mangione’s spinal cord.
Martin says he and Mangione stayed in regular contact after Mangione left Surfbreak in mid-2022. Martin said Mangione later texted him pictures after getting back surgery.
“He went radio silent in June or July,” Martin said.
Mangione has no significant criminal record in Hawai‘i. He was criminally cited on Nov. 12 of last year for trespassing in a “closed area” of Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout, a popular scenic viewpoint frequented by tourists on O‘ahu. At the time, he told a state parks officer his address was in Towson, Maryland, according to the citation.
After being charged with a petty misdemeanor, he pleaded no contest to a violation, and court records show he paid a court-ordered $100 fine. Honolulu police said he had no other run-ins on the island.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Mangione pleaded no contest to a petty misdemeanor. In fact, the charge was downgraded to a violation.
Mangione had a gun believed to be the one used in last week’s shooting and was taken into custody after police got a tip that he had been spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The news has been heartbreaking for his Hawai‘i friends.
“It just makes me sad to think how alone he must feel,” Wexler said.