Family of UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Suspect Expresses Shock at Arrest – One America News Network
OAN Staff James Meyers
9:39 AM – Tuesday, December 10, 2024
The family of Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, has broken their silence following his arrest on Monday.
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They expressed feeling “devastated” by the news, revealing that the 26-year-old accused gunman lost control following a “traumatic” back surgery.
“Our family is in shock and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” the family stated through his cousin Nino Mangione, a Republican delegate from Baltimore County, late Monday.
“We send our prayers to the Thompson family and ask that people pray for all involved. This news has left us heartbroken,” the Mangione family expressed.
They further stated that they “cannot comment on media reports” concerning the alleged murderer, who was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt.
“Our knowledge is limited to what we have read in the news,” the family mentioned.
An employee at the Altoona McDonald’s had recognized Mangione from the photographs released by the New York Police Department.
Upon police approach while he was dining at McDonald’s, he reportedly “began to tremble” when questioned about any recent trips to New York, according to a criminal complaint.
He presented a forged New Jersey ID, reportedly the same identification he used to check into a hostel in Manhattan before the shooting, and was taken into custody.
Authorities later found a ghost gun with a silencer on him, along with items that various sources indicated aligned with police investigations, including a handwritten manifesto that declared “these parasites had it coming.”
“I apologize for any distress or trauma caused, but it had to be done,” he inscribed.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Mangione hails from an affluent real estate family well-known in Maryland.
Raised outside Baltimore in Towson, his family possesses two country clubs, a local radio station, and various real estate ventures.
However, in the weeks leading up to the shooting, he reportedly became estranged from friends and family. His mother reported him missing on November 18th from his residence in San Francisco and sought to locate him through acquaintances.
One of his former classmates from the Gilman School in Baltimore recounted to the New York Times that Mangione had fallen into a dark place following back surgery several months prior.
A Hawaii friend and former roommate shared with CNN that Mangione had previously addressed his back troubles.
“In our first conversation before he moved in, he mentioned his back issue and expressed a desire to strengthen himself in Hawaii,” said RJ Martin.
Martin added that the intensity of Mangione’s back problems was such that a simple surfing lesson left him bedridden for at least a week.
After his surgery, Martin reported that Mangione sent him images of the X-rays.
“The images were alarming; they showed massive screws implanted in his spine,” he recounted.
Former high school peers remarked that the valedictorian appeared to have “completely lost control” after his operation, as noted by Jack Mac, a staffer at Barstool Sports.
“I spoke with a source close to many of Luigi’s high school friends. They keep mentioning that a back surgery ‘changed everything,’ and he went ‘completely crazy,’” Mac disclosed via X.
Currently, the suspect “has not made any statements” since his arrest, according to law enforcement officials.
Following his arrest, he was promptly arraigned on charges of weapons possession and forgery in Pennsylvania, and he faces murder charges in New York.
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