Police have apprehended Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, on Monday. Officials stated that Mangione was originally detained as a “strong person of interest,” per CNN, from a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania based on a tip from an employee at the restaurant. The suspect was found with fake IDs, a manifesto, and a “ghost gun” that might potentially connect him with the shooting. Here’s what we know so far about Luigi Nicholas Mangione.
What do we know about Luigi Nicholas Mangione?
Luigi Mangione has been identified as a 26-year-old male who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was born and raised in Maryland.
As reported by WBAL, Mangione graduated as a valedictorian from Gilman School, an all-boys day school in Baltimore, in 2016. Mangione was inducted into U. Penn’s Eta Kappa Nu honor society for excellence in electrical and computer engineering in 2018, per The Daily Pennsylvanian. His family owns Turf Valley Resort and Hayfields Country Club, a family-owned, private country club located in Cockeysville, Maryland. He is the cousin of Nino Mangione, a Baltimore County delegate in R-District 42A.
Police authorities said that Mangione was found with a “ghost gun” that was possibly 3D printed and was capable of “firing a 9mm round.” A suppressor was also found in his possession. Building a ghost gun, which doesn’t have a serial number, is difficult to trace and does not require a background check. Based on footage of the initial shooting, multiple experts believed that the killer was not a professional hitman.
A search of his belongings include multiple fake IDs, including one with the name “Marc Rosario.” Investigators stated that the suspected shooter arrived in New York City in late November and stayed at a Manhattan hostel under the same name, per NBC News.
In addition, the suspect had a two-page, handwritten document that reportedly criticized the healthcare industry and suggested that violence was the answer. Several lines in the document stated “These parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that there no “specific threats to other people” in the document, but it showed “ill will towards corporate America.”
The New York Post reports that Mangione had reason to dislike the healthcare industry for “its treatment of an ailing relative,” with online obituaries showing that he lost a grandmother in 2013 and a grandfather in 2017. His LinkedIn page reveals that he worked at an assisted-living facility for the elderly in 2014.
It is expected that law enforcement will take DNA swabs from Mangione and perform ballistics tests with the ghost gun to see if they match DNA and bullet casings recovered at the scene of the crime in Manhattan.
