Luigi Mangione, suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been charged with murder. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports.
A 26-year-old Maryland native arrested in connection to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City has been charged with murder.
He was being held near Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a McDonald’s employee thought he looked suspicious and called police. The officers who responded said they knew immediately who he was. Police said they found him with a ghost gun, a silencer, a fake ID and a document that speaks to a possible motive.
Luigi Mangione was “born and raised in Maryland,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said at a news conference Monday, and grew up in Cockeysville. Mangione’s family has deep ties to Baltimore County. His family owns Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley and Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, NBC News confirmed.
Mangione is a cousin of Maryland Del. Nino Mangione, who represents portions of Baltimore County, his office confirmed to WBAL.
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The state delegate released a statement from the Mangione family saying, “Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione. We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news.”
Mangione graduated from the Gilman School, an elite all-boys high school in Baltimore, in 2016 as valedictorian.
“This is one of the last people you’d think would do something like this. He was one of the nicest kids, one of the most friendly kids that I’d known at Gilman,” a former classmate told News4.
“This is deeply distressing news on top of an already awful situation. Our hearts go out to everyone affected,” the head of school said in a letter to families.
After Gilman, Mangione went on to earn an engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania, WBAL reported. He was a member of the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi from 2017 to 2020, the group confirmed.
"He just fit a mold," Alejandro Romero, a Penn classmate, told NBC News. "He just seemed like any other normal frat dude that you could see at a frat party."
Mangione’s grandparents were donors to Loyola University Maryland, in Baltimore, and the school’s fitness and aquatic center bears the family’s name.
It appears Mangione had not lived in Maryland for several years prior to the shooting. He was last known to live in Honolulu and also had ties to San Francisco, police said.
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