The family of an individual charged with murder in last week’s shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has released a statement after Monday’s arrest as more details about the suspect emerged.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested by police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was spotted by a McDonald’s employee. Authorities charged him with Thompson’s murder as he was arraigned in a Pennsylvania courtroom, court records show.
“We only know what we have read in the media,” the statement reads. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.
“We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people pray for all involved.”
The statements said the family is “devastated by this news.”
Altoona police said in a statement that officers were dispatched to a McDonald’s on Monday morning, responding to reports of a male matching the description of the man wanted in connection with the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing in New York City.
In a statement, police say officers made contact with the man, who was then arrested on unrelated charges. The Altoona Police Department says it’s cooperating with local, state, and federal agencies.
Hours later, on Monday, Manhattan prosecutors filed murder and other charges against Mangione, according to an online court docket. He remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery, and providing false identification to police.
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson in what officials initially described as a “brazen” and “targeted ”attack that was captured on video. They have not yet released a motive for the slaying.
On Monday, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police told reporters that after Mangione left New York City, he traveled to Pennsylvania and was in a “variety of locations” in the state before he was arrested.
“Based on everything we have seen, he was very careful with trying to stay low profile, avoid cameras—not all that successfully in some cases, but that was certainly the effort he was making,” Bivens said. “He took steps to try to avoid detection with some of the electronic devices as well.”
Mangione, a high school valedictorian from a Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesman said on Monday.
He had learned to code in high school and helped start a club at the university for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication.
Officials said that he wrote about a number of subjects.
“They were very detailed, and everything we have is going to be turned over to NYPD,” Altoona Deputy Chief of Police Derek Swope said.
Mangione’s social media posts also suggest that 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 in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, the New Jersey shore, and other destinations.
“I loved this guy,” said Martin. “In some ways I feel like my members are my kids.”
He added that Mangione suffered from chronic back pain due to an apparent pinched nerve in his back. People on the island stopped hearing from Mangione over the summer, he said.
“He went radio silent in June or July,” Martin told the outlet.
