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NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny announced Monday, Dec. 9, that 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who has ties to Maryland, is considered a suspect in the murder. He was eating at a McDonald's in Altoona, PA when an employee recognized him and called local police, Kenny said (scroll down for more on Mangione's apprehension).
Mangione's Facebook page shows that he is from Towson, MD and studied at the University of Pennsylvania. His X account shows he was going for his M.S.E. and B.S.E. in Computer Science at Penn, where he was apparently a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
Mangione's LinkedIn page shows his most recent job as a data engineer at TrueCar. According to NBC New York, Mangione graduated as valedictorian in the Class of 2016 from the Gilman School, an all-boys high school in Baltimore.
In early 2024, a Goodreads account believed to be run by Mangione, gave Unabomber Ted Kacynski's book a four-star review. It reads, in part:
"It's easy to quickly and thoughtless write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it's simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out."
Hundreds of people flocked to Mangione's Instagram account (where he had 40K followers as of press time), many to support him after news broke that he was in police custody on Monday: "KING 👑," one person commented. "The people is with you 🤍," another said. More chimed in, adding, "Sometimes heroes don't wear a cap but a backpack." Another called Mangione a "true vigilante."
Still there, there are plenty of people who feel that Mangione — if, in fact he was the one to kill Thompson, is far from a hero: "Premeditated…life in prison. No hero. This is not how you fix anything. You had a long life to live now it will be in a cell the rest of your life."
The case has captivated public attention, with memes and speculation flooding platforms like X and Instagram, where Mangione quickly became a heartthrob and garnered the support of fellow Americans.
Armchair detectives speculated that Thompson's killer or someone they loved was burned by UnitedHealth.
Authorities had not developed a motive as of press time. Kenny told reporters: "It does seem that [Mangione] has some ill will toward corporate America." Kenny said Mangione will face gun charges in PA with extradition to New York in the works in conjunction with Manhattan's DA.
As of press time, Mangione was not facing any charges in connection with Thompson's murder, however, NYC Mayor Eric Adams at a news conference said he is a strong match to the description of the suspect identification.
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