Friend’s sad post about alleged murderer Luigi Mangione

A friend of alleged CEO murderer Luigi Mangione has shared an insightful video about the 26-year-old.

Friends and family of suspected killer Luigi Mangione said they are struggling to square the person they knew with his alleged actions.

Following a week-long manhunt, the 26-year-old was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged on suspicion of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Hilton hotel in New York City on December 4.

Mangione has also been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a firearm. He was refused bail at a hearing this morning, and will remain in prison until he is extradited to New York.

In the 24 hours since Mangione’s arrest, loved ones have responded to his violent alleged act – including one friend, Tracy, in a TikTok video that showed the pair laughing while grocery shopping.

“Luigi Mangione is probably the most google (sic) keyword today,” she captioned the video, which was uploaded to Reddit after she deactivated her account.

“But before all of this, for a while, it was also the only name whose FaceTime calls I would pick up.

“He was one of my absolute best, closest, most trusted friends. He was also the only person who, at 1am on a work day, in this video, agreed to go to the store with drunk me, to look for mochi ice cream.”

Murder suspect Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday, December 10. Picture: Benjamin B Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

One friend of Luigi Mangione, Tracy, shared a TikTok video that showed the pair laughing while grocery shopping. Picture: Reddit

She described the 26-year-old as being ‘one of my absolute best, closest, most trusted friends’. Picture: Reddit

Mangione had reportedly not been in touch with his family since undergoing surgery in 2023 for a back injury sustained in a surfing accident, according to accounts from several of his friends and social media posts.

Jack Mac, a staffer at media company Barstool Sports, said high school friends of the alleged shooter went “crazy” after being injured.

“Spoke with a source that had a lot of friends that went to high school with Luigi Mangione,” Mr Mac wrote.

“What keeps coming up is a back surgery that ‘changed everything’ for him and he went ‘absolutely crazy’.

“Back injury happened when he was surfing in Hawaii. Surgery didn’t go great. Moved to Japan. His contact with family stopped about a year ago. Recently the family reached out to his friends from high school asking if they had info on him.”

Mangione had reportedly not been in touch with his family since undergoing back surgery in 2023. Picture: Facebook

An initial police mugshot taken of Mangione following his arrest at Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday local time.

One of Mangione’s former classmates at the Gilman School in Baltimore – where he was valedictorian – told The New York Times his peers were forwarded a message earlier this year because the suspect’s family was trying to find him.

The classmate, Aaron Cranston, said the message indicated Mangione’s relatives hadn’t heard from him since his operation.

Meanwhile, RJ Martin – a friend and former roommate in Hawaii – told CNN Mangione had previously spoken of his back issues.

“When I first interviewed him, before he moved in, I remember he said he had a back issue, and he was hoping to get stronger,” Mr Martin, who founded a co-living community in Honolulu that Mangione was an occupant of, said.

“Our mission statement is that we’re a community of givers and that we leave things better than we found them,” he said.

“We look for people who are looking to give back. And he fit the bill. He was an ideal member for us.”

Mangione’s family said they were ‘shocked and devastated’ by his arrest. Picture: Instagram

Mangione’s mother reported him missing on November 18, police sources told The New York Post.

Maryland state delegate Nino Mangione, who is Mangione’s cousin, said in a statement on behalf of the entire family that they “only know what we have read in the media” and that they were “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,” the statement continued.

– with The New York Post