The American Robin Hood
The CEO shooter was an Ivy League graduate, as well as the valedictorian of his class at a private all-boys high school in Baltimore. There, his wealthy family is quite prominent in the real estate business, as they own country clubs and golf courses. Despite having a privileged background, Luigi Mangione was often described by friends as “humble,” and he believed he was meant for a “bright future.”
Unfortunately, all of that changed on Monday, when the 26-year-old Mangione was found by the police as the prime suspect in the brazen targeted shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which unfolded in the middle of New York City and captured the whole world’s attention. “He wasn’t a violent person as far as we could’ve seen.”, as R.J. Martin, Mangione’s former roommate, declared to ABC News.
Moreover, Martin added that Mangione’s arrest in this murder case was definitely “shocking.” Mangione was charged Monday night with second-degree murder in the killing of 50-year-old Thompson. Investigators might suspect that Mangione held a huge grudge against the medical insurance agency. They also suspect that they’ve been inspired by Ted Kaczynski, the mathematician-turn-domestic terrorist, commonly known as the “Unabomber.” He remained famous for blaming technology for a decline in individual freedom, and his signature move was mailing handcrafted explosives to targeted individuals between 1978 and 1995
On a Tuesday hearing, police officers were escorting Mangione into a court hearing when, out of a sudden he yelled to reports present at the scene, “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people” before officers wrestled with him and hustled him into the courthouse. Thompson, who was residing in Minnesota, was walking alone on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk around 6.40 a.m. last Wednesday, heading to his company’s shareholders conference at the New York Hilton, when a mask and hooded gunman was caught by the surveillance cameras lying in wait. The shooter simply and calmly pulled out a 3-D printed “ghost gun” equipped with a silencer and opened fire from behind, according to police reports.
After quite an intensive five-day manhunt that took police to many states, Mangione was ultimately arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. As it turns out, a customer recognized him from surveillance photographs and alerted an employee of the fast-food chain who called 911. Altoona police officers rapidly confronted Mangione, who was wearing a medical mask and sitting by himself at the read of the McDonald’s restaurant, looking into a laptop. They wrote in a criminal complaint, specifying that when they asked Mangione whether or not he’d recently been in New York City, the suspect became “all quiet and started to shake.”
During a news conference that followed the arrest, Altoona police officer Tyler Frye declared that he and his partner asked the man to pull down his mask. As Frye recalled, “As soon as we pulled that down, I and my partner recognized him right away, just from what we say in the media with photos, videos, we didn’t think twice. We knew that was our guy.”
Document found on the suspect speaks about both his “motive and mindset”
Mangione was in court the same night in Pennsylvania, where he was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and fraudulent pieces of identification. During his arrangement, the defendant, who appeared in court without an attorney, offered a series of insights into his family history. He suggested that he has been estranged from his relatives in the most recent months. Despite his family’s wealth and prestige in the Baltimore region, Mangione requested on a court form that a public defender represent him.
When a judge asked if he had been keeping contact with his family, Mangione declared that he had “until recently.” A Pennsylvania prosecutor then asked the judge to hold Mangione without bail, stating that the defendant had thousands of dollars in cash on him at the time of his arrest. Mangione then asked the judge to “correct” details the district attorney shared in court, especially about how much money he had on him.
In a backpack Mangione had with him, it seems that the police found a black 3-D printed pistol and a black silencer, which was also 3-D printed. They both seem to match the weapon used to murder Thompson, according to the criminal complaint. They also found a three-page document on Mangione that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch declared that “speaks to both his motivation and mindset.”
In yet another interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny declared that the handwritten document from Mangione could shed some light on why the executive of the country’s biggest insurance company was targeted in the first place.
As they explained, “he makes some indication that he is frustrated with the healthcare system in the United States, especially related to the fact that we are No. 1 most expensive healthcare system in the world…he wrote a lot about his disdain for corporate America.” as Kenny said.
Sources aware of the document also told ABC News that UnitedHealthcare was also mentioned in the document. However, Tisch added that it is still under investigation if Mangione had any personal connections to the healthcare giant.
Law enforcement sources also shared with ABC News that the document had some lines that said: “These parasites had it coming” and “I apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”
Another victim of the healthcare system
Allegedly, Mangione views the targeted killing as some form of symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and power games. He also allegedly described himself as the “first to face “UnitedHealthcare” with such brutal honesty.
At the moment, detectives still trying to establish whether Thompson was targeted because of some form of personal conflict or simply as a result of his work as an insurance executive. Because as far as it seems right now, the killer had some form of knowledge of Thompson’s schedule on Wednesday, as well as the fact that he would be arriving at the Hilton well before the company meeting even started.
Police are still conducting interviews with Thompson’s colleagues and family about any potential specific threats. Another high school classmate of Mangione, who asked to remain anonymous, declared to ABC News that the suspect had undergone back surgery only recently. “Whether it was due to complications from his back surgery or a series of personal issues with his family and the healthcare system, it definitely came as an immense surprise only because he wasn’t the type of person to do such a thing without a reason” as classmates declared.
As investigators currently sit through Mangione’s online activity, they also examine multiple social media posts that would suggest he might have suffered a significant back injury, including a photo of an X-ray of a spine posted on X with at least two books about back injuries on his Goodreads profile.
Martin declared to ABC News that he was very aware of Mangione’s back surgery. “I knew he was going to have surgery; that’s why earlier this year I checked in with him. He confirmed to me that he had had the surgery and sent me the X-rays. It looked quite heinous with giant screws going into his spine.”
If you felt inspired after reading the story of Luigi Mangione, we recommend you read Robin Hood. You will rapidly link the pieces together.
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