The suspect arrested in the UHC shooting was a former Firaxis Games intern
On December 4, a masked individual shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of Manhattan. On Monday, a McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania saw someone who looked like the shooter; that person, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, has since been arrested, according to AP. Information about Mangione immediately circulated online, including his background in video game development and a stint at Civilization developer Firaxis Games. A representative for Firaxis Games confirmed to Polygon that Mangione had previously worked there, but declined to comment further.
At the time of writing, Mangione has been charged with forgery, carrying a weapon without a permit, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing “instruments of crime.”
According to Mangione’s LinkedIn page, he was working on Civilization 6 as a UI Programming intern from 2016-2017. Also in 2016, through his LinkedIn, he co-founded Upgrade, a video game development club at the University of Pennsylvania; he graduated from UPenn in 2020 with a combined master’s and bachelor’s degree in computer science. According to the LinkedIn page, Mangione’s career appears to have veered away from game development after his stint at Firaxis.
When he was arrested Monday, Mangione was carrying a “ghost gun,” a term describing a gun without a serial number that may have been made with parts made with a 3D printer. He also had multiple fake IDs with him and, according to the New York Times“a handwritten manifesto criticizing health care companies for putting profit over care, according to two law enforcement officials.”
At this time, he has not been charged with Thompson’s murder. The NYT reports: “The fake ID that Mr. Mangione showed to police was the same one the man thought was the gunman’s hand that he presented when he checked into a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on November 24, a high law enforcement authority. official said.”