Luigi Mangione, who was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was once among a group of Ivy League gamers who played assassins, a member of the group told NBC News.
In the game, called “Among Us”, some players are secretly assigned as assassins in space who perform other tasks while trying to avoid suspicion from other players.
Alejandro Romero, who attended the University of Pennsylvania with Mangione and was a member of the same Discord group, said he was shocked when news emerged on social media that Mangione had been taken into police custody.
“I thought it was extremely ironic that we were in this game and there could actually be a real murderer among us,” he said.
“As soon as his picture and name showed up on X, my friend texted me asking if I knew him, and then I called about a dozen friends, or they called me,” Romero added. “I didn’t speak to anyone today who wasn’t already aware of what happened.”
Mangione, 26, was arrested Monday morning at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee spotted him.
Luigi Mangione arrives for arraignment Monday at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
Police found a firearm, believed to be 3D printed, and a handwritten document about Mangione “that speaks to both his motivation and mentality,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. Authorities said he was also carrying a fake ID and passport.
In New York, Mangione was charged with murder, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of a weapon, court records show.
Authorities in Pennsylvania charged Mangione with carrying firearms without a permit, forgery, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing false identification to police.
In a statement on X Monday night, a member of the Mangione family said they are “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.”
“We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and ask people to pray for everyone involved,” wrote Nino Mangione, a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates.
Romero, who said he has not spoken to or seen Mangione since 2020, described him as a typical student who did not stand out to him.
“He just fit a mold,” Romero said. “He just seemed like any other normal college guy you could see at a college party.”
His senior year of college was cut short when the pandemic hit. Students were forced off campus in their final semester and did not return to begin.
The Discord group was a way to stay connected, Romero said, but members began going their separate ways as they got full-time jobs or took long trips.
For several of those years, Mangione left a digital footprint, including reviewing “Industrial Society and Its Future,” also known as the “Unabomber Manifesto” by Ted Kaczynski, on Goodreads, a book review and recommendation platform. It served as the ideological rationale for Kaczynski’s yearlong mail bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others.
According to a review of his account, Mangione became significantly more active on X in 2021 after not posting or reposting any content for five years.
When asked about the change in Mangione’s online persona, Romero said the question has been circulating among his group of friends.
“I feel like people aren’t sure how to label him,” he said. “Personally, I’m having a hard time understanding how this all works.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
