Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was formally charged with murder late Monday, according to court documents. This came as his family publicly reacted to his arrest.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged the 26-year-old with first-degree murder and several weapons offenses, as seen in the court records. These charges came just hours after Mangione was arraigned in Pennsylvania on charges related to weapons possession and forgery.
Mangione was located in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning after a McDonald’s customer recognized him as the suspect from surveillance footage and alerted authorities. The customer identified Mangione as resembling the shooter sought in connection to the deadly incident that occurred last week outside a hotel in Manhattan.
The suspect, a graduate from an Ivy League university and a member of a well-known Maryland real estate family, was found in possession of a ghost gun, fake identification, and a series of writings that appeared to connect him to the shooting, according to officials.
After his capture, Mangione, who is currently being held in a Pennsylvania jail, was denied bail during a short court hearing on Monday evening. At that hearing, he was charged with possessing an unregistered firearm, forgery, and providing false identification to police. Additional charges, including first-degree murder, multiple firearms offenses, and more forgery charges, were later filed by Manhattan prosecutors, the court records indicate.
Authorities had previously indicated that they anticipated murder charges would be filed in New York soon. These charges followed the release of the news that Mangione’s family had broken their silence by issuing a statement expressing their shock and devastation over his arrest.
“We are devastated by this news,” the family said in a statement shared on X.
“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,” they added. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
Thompson, aged 50, was shot and killed last Wednesday while walking alone toward a Midtown hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was hosting its annual investor conference, according to police.
Following the shooting, the NYPD released several surveillance images of the suspect, along with footage of the bold attack, as they initiated a widespread manhunt for the assailant. Photos captured in the lobby of a hostel on the Upper West Side showed the suspect smiling after removing his mask, police stated.
The tipster who alerted authorities to Mangione’s location on Monday recognized him from one of the images, law enforcement officials confirmed.
{Matzav.com}