Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting, was charged with murder in New York on Monday night. The 26-year-old faces four additional charges, including criminal possession of a weapon and possession of a forged document. After a sprawling manhunt for the suspect — one that inspired a notable amount of online thirst — Mangione was arrested after he was spotted eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the NYPD chief of detectives said. Police say he had multiple fake IDs, $8,000 in cash, and a 3-D-printed gun on his person, and was arraigned on gun charges at the Blair County Courthouse on Monday evening. Mangione, who denied possessing the cash at the time of his arrest, is currently being held without bail and has not yet entered a plea.
When asked at Monday’s arraignment if he was in contact with his family, Mangione replied “until recently.” Hours after his arrest, the Mangione family released a statement online through the suspect’s cousin, Maryland state delegate Nino Mangione. The family declined to comment on the developing situation, stating that their understanding of the case is limited to what they’ve read in the news. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” the statement concluded. “We offer prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
While online sleuths have already dissected everything from Mangione’s love of obscure Pokémon, his startling six-pack, and his wish to someday read the behemoth that is Infinite Jest, more serious details about the suspect’s health have emerged as well. Mangione hailed from a wealthy Baltimore family, served as his high school’s valedictorian, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020. But after a debilitating back injury suffered during a surf lesson in Hawaii in 2022, he began to withdraw from his normal life, ghosting friends and family, CNN reports. A since-deleted Reddit account that reportedly belonged to Mangione details the toll the injury took on his social life. “It’s absolutely brutal to have such a life-halting issue,” the user wrote. “The people around you probably won’t understand your symptoms — they certainly don’t for me.”
“He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” R.J. Martin, who lived in the same building as Mangione in Hawaii, told the New York Times. “I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.”
Pending a warrant from New York, Mangione’s next court appearance is slated for December 23 in Pennsylvania.