On December 4, 2024, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, since 2021, Brian Thompson was shot dead in New York City early that morning. The suspected shooter fled the scene on his bicycle, making his way through Central Park to the Upper West Side. The shooter was later determined to be 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who was caught and arrested in Pennsylvania at a McDonald’s on December 9, just five short days after the murder. Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate and valedictorian of his high school class, was raised by a wealthy family in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Other than his violent actions just a few weeks ago, Mangione’s family and friends both believed him to have a bright future in store. Mangione’s college roommate, R.J. Martin, reported to ABC News that, “He was absolutely not a violent person as far as I could tell.” However, Mangione’s actions certainly defied his humble and good-natured beginnings, as additional family and friends had described.
As investigators continue their work, they have come to believe that Mangione’s violence was inspired by the “Unabomber,” who had “blamed technology for a decline of individual freedom and mailed handcrafted explosives to targeted individuals between 1978 and 1995,” according to ABC News. Mangione did not receive insurance from the company nor did his mother, which he explains to the Chief of Detectives of the NYPD, Joseph Kenny, as well as other personal frustrations with the United States healthcare system. Police officers and investigators believe his hatred toward the country’s healthcare system, namely the expensive costs, served as part of his motivation in killing Thompson. Additional evidence has come into question regarding Mangione’s plans to kill Thompson, located in a spiral bound notebook in which he expresses additional distaste for wealthy executives and the healthcare system. The newly appointed United Healthcare CEO, Andrew Witty, has recently openly acknowledged the faults and imperfections in the healthcare system, explaining that executives and other faces in the system did not choose to build it the way it has been.
Mangione, as of late, has made one court appearance on Monday December 23, 2024, where he pleaded not guilty to 11 state charges–one of them being murder in the first degree. He is currently at risk of facing the death penalty due to the federal charges he is facing, according to CBS News. Meanwhile, Mangione is currently being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, with his next court date set to be on February 21, 2025.