2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Elysia Taylor-Hearn)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info The CEO of America's largest health insurance company was shot in New York by a masked gunman last week in a daylight murder that has left America reeling.
Brian Thompson, who worked for UnitedHealthcare, was repeatedly shot from behind outside the Hilton hotel in Manhattan, in what police called a “premeditated, targeted attack”. The suspect fled the scene and sparked a massive manhunt, with the FBI and New York police offering a combined reward of $60,000 for information leading to his capture. CCTV footage of a suspect, along with unusual clues left at the crime scene, gripped the public's imagination as law enforcement agencies raced to apprehend the unknown shooter.
When a “strong person of interest” was captured and charged with murder on Monday, the world's shock only grew. Police revealed this man to be Luigi Mangione, a "super normal" Ivy League graduate from a wealthy family. Appearing at Pennsylvania court on Monday, Mangione listened as gun and forgery charges were read against him at the Blair county courthouse in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Authorities have since charged Mangione with first-degree murder. As Luigi's devastated family offer "prayers to the family of Brian Thompson", many are asking - who is Luigi Mangione? And what could have driven him to allegedly commit such an audacious crime? Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania on Monday, 300 miles west of New York, after a customer recognised him. He was found wearing a blue medical mask, and "became quiet and started to shake" when asked if he had visited New York recently.
Mangione was carrying a gun and a silencer, which police say are "both consistent with the weapon used in the murder”. They believe the weapon to be a "ghost gun" - one that does not have a serial number and is assembled at home, possibly using parts made by a 3D printer. Officers also discovered several fake IDs in Mangione's rucksack, including one bearing the name Mark Rosario, which was used to check into a New York hostel before the shooting.
Mangione was born into a wealthy family in Maryland, where he attended an all-boys private school that costs nearly $40,000 a year. A former classmate described the suspect as a friendly and outwardly normal student in an interview with Fox News. They said: “It’s not like he wasn’t outgoing, or introverted.
Nice kid, always had a smile on his face. Never really got the vibes of him being socially awkward, so that’s why I’m really surprised." Mangione later graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, an elite Ivy League college, with a bachelors of science in engineering and a masters of science in May 2020.
A classmate described him as "super normal" and "smart person", the BBC reports. Shortly after the suspect was charged, Republican state lawmaker Nino Mangione - believed to be his cousin - released a statement saying his family is "shocked and devastated" by the news of the shooting. Shell casings discovered at the murder scene were inscribed with the words “deny”, “defend” and “depose”.
The words echo the title of Jay Feinman's book ' Delay, Deny, Defend', which discusses the tactics of health insurers to deny claims, leading some to suggest that the attack could have been motivated by opposition to America's profit-driven healthcare industry. The suspect's apparent familiarity with issues surrounding American healthcare and radical action was confirmed by a series of public book reviews that he left on Goodreads. Mangione reviewed a book penned by the American terrorist Theodore John Kaczynski, the Unabomber who planted bombs across the country for almost 20 years and ultimately killed three Americans.
His book argued that murder was an extreme but necessary measure to highlight how modern technologies were undermining human freedom and dignity. Mangione rated the controversial book four stars, explaining: “When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution.
” The suspect also reviewed several books about back pain, while friend reported that he had recently undergone back surgery then “went missing”. A three-page manifesto that Mangione was carrying when he was arrested made his hatred towards health insurance companies clear. According to CNN, an officer who reviewed the manifesto claims that the suspect had written: “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.
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