Rhiannon Ingle
The family of the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week have issued a statement expressing their 'shock and devastation'.
Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from Maryland, was taken into custody on Monday (9 December) following the shooting which resulted in the company's chief executive, Brian Thompson, being shot dead outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan last Wednesday (4 December).
Thompson was shot at least once in the back and once in the calf before he was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
Mangione was caught after a McDonald's employee identified him in Pennsylvania, after which police found him with items linking him to the murder, including a gun, mask and a handwritten document.
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New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner, Jessica Tisch, publicly thanked the McDonald's employee who got in touch with the force after noticing a man who looked like the suspect.
"The suspect was in a McDonald's and was recognised by an employee who then called local police," she said.
"Responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a US passport."
Tisch continued: "Upon further investigation, officers recovered a firearm on his person, as well as a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder.
"They also recovered clothing, including a mask, consistent with those worn by our wanted individual.
"Additionally, officers recovered a handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset."
Mangione’s family, who are reportedly very prominent in the Baltimore area, have also now released a statement following his arrest.
Posted by Mangione’s cousin, Nino, who is a Republican member of the lower house of Maryland’s state legislature, the statement read: "Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione.
"We only know what we have read in the media."
He added: "Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved."
A 262-page handwritten document was found on Mangione at the time of his arrest.
"To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone," the suspect reportedly wrote, according to a senior law enforcement official who reportedly saw the document.
He allegedly added companies that 'continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it'.
He also reportedly wrote that 'these parasites had it coming' and 'I do apologise for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done'.
Alongside the murder charge, Mangione has also been charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.