Family of Luigi Mangione break silence after 26-year-old charged with murder of health insurance boss
10 December 2024, 07:35 | Updated: 10 December 2024, 07:37
The family of a man charged with the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthCare have said they are "shocked and devastated".
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Brian Thompson was shot several times outside a hotel in New York last week. He was rushed to hospital but later died.
On Monday, police arrested Luigi Mangione in a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after an employee alerted authorities.
Following the arrest, his family released a statement saying: "Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione.
"We only know what we have read in the media.
"Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest.
"We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.
"We are devastated by this news."
Mr Thompson, 50, was shot several times in the back outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where he was set to speak at an event later in the day.
His death launched a nationwide manhunt, as police desperately looked for clues of the suspect's location.
“At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen targeted murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Tisch said a "combination of old-school detective work and new age technology" helped police track this suspected shooter.
He was sitting at a table in the rear of the McDonald's wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop computer, documents said.
Mangione was found with a "handwritten document" - described in some reports as a "manifesto."
Mangione then appeared in a Pennsylvania court to be arraigned on five initial counts and was denied bail.
Just hours later, New York investigators charged Mangione with murder and four other counts including firearms charges.
When arrested, he was in possession of a ghost gun that could have been made on a 3D printer, police said.
"We don't think there's any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document," police said, "but it does seem he has some ill will towards corporate America".
It is believed he acted alone.
NYPD chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and has a last known address in Honolulu.
CCTV shows moment Brian Thompson is shot in New York
"Today at 9:14 am, Altoona Police Officers were dispatched to a McDonald’s Restaurant for reports of a male matching the description of the United Healthcare CEO murder suspect” the police department said in a statement.“
Officers made contact with the male who was subsequently arrested on unrelated charges."
On what appears to be his Goodreads account Mangione has read and reviewed the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, the anit-capitalist known as the Unabomber.
In the review, he writes: "These companies don’t care about you, or your kids, or your grandkids.
"They have zero qualms about burning down the planet for a buck, so why should we have any qualms about burning them down to survive?
"We’re animals just like everything else on this planet, except we’ve forgotten the law of the jungle and bend over for our overlords when any other animal would recognize the threat and fight to the death for their survival."
'Violence never solved anything'” is a statement uttered by cowards and predators."
In images released by the NYPD, the suspect can be seen smiling before the attack.
The attacker fled on foot and then on an e-bike towards Central Park, police said.
Footage has shown him slowly walking behind Mr Thompson, before shooting him several times in the back.
Detectives are said to have uncovered shell casings at the scene, inscribed with the words "deny", "defend" and "depose".
Several shots were fired during the attack, with the gun briefly getting jammed before being cleared.
It comes after chilling CCTV images released by the NYPD showed the suspected killer in Starbucks minutes before the targeted attack.
