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OAN Staff James Meyers
9:39 AM – Tuesday, December 10, 2024
The family of Luigi Mangione, the man charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, have spoken out for the first time since his arrest on Monday.
His family said they were “devastated” by his arrest, as it was revealed the 26-year-old alleged gunman spiraled out of control after undergoing “traumatic” back surgery.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” the family said in a statement shared by his cousin Nino Mangione, a Republican Baltimore County delegate, late Monday.
“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,” the Mangione family said.
The family members added that they “cannot comment on news reports” regarding the accused killer, who was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday morning following a five-day manhunt.
“We only know what we have read in the media,” the family said.
An Altoona McDonald’s employee reported to police that they recognized Mangione from photos released by the New York Police Department.
Local police approached him while he was eating inside the McDonald’s and said he “started to shake” when they asked if he had been to New York recently, according to a criminal complaint.
He then showed them a fake New Jersey ID, believed to be the same one he used when checking into a Manhattan hostel before the killing and was taken into custody.
Authorities then discovered a ghost gun with a silencer on him and others that multiple sources said were “consistent” with what cops were seeking, including a handwritten manifesto that claimed “these parasites had it coming.”
“I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done,” he wrote.
Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania grad, comes from a well-off real estate family that is prominent in the Maryland area.
He was also raised outside Baltimore in Towson and his family owns two country clubs, a local radio station and other real estate holdings.
However, in the weeks prior to the shooting, he became estranged from his friends and family, according to authorities.
His mother reported him missing on November 18th, from a home in San Francisco where he lived. She also reached out to his peers to try to track him down.
One of his former classmates at the Gilman School in Baltimore told the New York Times that Mangione went into the dark after undergoing back surgery several months ago.
A friend and former roommate in Hawaii also told CNN that Mangione had previously spoken of his back issues.
“When I first interviewed him, before he moved in, I remember he said he had a back issue, and he was hoping to get stronger in Hawaii,” RJ Martin said.
He stated that his back issues were so “traumatic and difficult” that one basic surfing lesson left him bedridden for at least a week.
When he underwent surgery, Martin said, his friend sent him images of the X-rays.
“It looked heinous, with just giant screws going into his spine,” he said.
Other friends from high school said that the valedictorian went “absolutely crazy” after the surgery, according to Jack Mac, who is a staffer at Barstool Sports.
“Spoke with a source that had a lot of friends that went to high school with Luigi Mangione. What keeps coming up is a back surgery that ‘changed everything’ for him and he went ‘absolutely crazy,’” Mac revealed on X.
Meanwhile, the suspect “hasn’t made any statements” since his arrest, law enforcement officials said.
Hours after the arrest, he was arraigned on weapons and forgery charges in Pennsylvania. He was also charged in New York with murder.
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