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Last updated:Dec 11, 2024 3:01 PM IST

Luigi Mangione’s friends and people who knew him say he had anti-capitalist views.

Luigi Mangione attended a high-profile prep school in Baltimore. (Photo credits:

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is now at the center of a high-profile investigation. After being arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9, 2024, Luigi was charged with manslaughter. Thompson was shot and killed outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on the night of December 4.

Reports say the main suspect comes from a privileged Maryland family with investments in real estate and healthcare. Luigi’s grandfather founded several successful companies, including Turf Valley Resort and Lorien Health Services.

He attended a high-profile prep school in Baltimore. Luigi graduated as valedictorian in 2016 and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Most of his friends and people who knew him said he had anti-capitalist views. People close to him have denied that he could be involved in a violent crime, remembering him as a smart and kind man, ABC News reported.

Luigi was found in possession of a ghost gun: a model firearm that can easily be assembled from parts due to the lack of a serial number. In addition, he was equipped with a suppression device and several fake identification cards, including a fraudulent New Jersey identification that matched the identification used to check into a New York City hostel prior to the shooting, the BBC reports. Authorities also found a three-page handwritten manifesto detailing his grievances with corporate America, which he may have used as motivation for possibly carrying out the attack, they said.

Upon his arrest, Luigi was visibly nervous when the police asked him about it and tried to give them false identification. He was ultimately charged with firearms offenses and forgery and held without bail. CBS News said his extradition to New York is pending and more legal proceedings are pending.

Investigators continue to piece together Luigi’s movements leading up to the shooting. After leaving New York City immediately after the incident, he passed through several locations in Pennsylvania before being captured, CBS News added. The NYPD is working hard to understand whether he acted alone or if others were involved in planning the attack.

Meanwhile, the surveillance camera captured a masked gunman approaching Thompson from behind and firing multiple shots until his death. Police launched a massive manhunt that lasted five days before Luigi was apprehended after he was recognized by a McDonald’s worker in Pennsylvania, the BBC added.