Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was once part of an Ivy League gaming circle where he and his friends played the popular game Among Us.
In this social deduction game, players secretly assume the role of impostors and eliminate other players while avoiding detection, a chilling parallel to the accusations Mangione now faces.
Alejandro Romero, a University of Pennsylvania alumnus and former member of the same Discord gaming group, expressed disbelief upon hearing the news. “It’s ironic,” NBC News quoted Romero.
“We played a game about killers among us, and now this happens in real life”, he added.
Romero recounted the shock that rippled through their friend group when Mangione’s arrest surfaced on social media.
Mangione was apprehended on Monday morning at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee recognised him from wanted posters. He was found carrying a suspected 3D-printed firearm, a forged ID, and a handwritten manifesto reportedly outlining his motivations.
Authorities also confirmed Mangione’s possession of a passport, possibly indicating an attempt to flee.
Romero described Mangione as a typical college student who blended into the crowd.
“He just fit a mould. A normal frat dude you’d see at a party”, he said. However, Mangione’s online presence shifted in the years following graduation.
According to NBC News, he became increasingly active on social media, posting a mix of political views and engaging with controversial literature, including the ‘Unabomber Manifesto’ by Ted Kaczynski.
Mangione’s Goodreads profile revealed his admiration for writers like Aldous Huxley and Ted Kaczynski, with one chillingly relevant quote from Kaczynski reading, “Imagine a society that subjects people to conditions that make them terribly unhappy then gives them the drugs to take away their unhappiness.”
Romero and others in their friend group remain perplexed by this transformation. “We’re all asking how this fits,” Romero said. “It’s hard to reconcile the person we knew with what’s happened now.”
Mangione faces multiple charges, including murder, possession of a weapon, and forgery in New York, alongside additional charges in Pennsylvania. The Mangione family released a statement expressing their shock and offering prayers for Thompson’s family.
The case has left those who knew Mangione grappling with disbelief. “It’s a tragedy on all fronts,” Romero concluded, reflecting on the dark turn in the life of someone who once shared lighter moments in a virtual world.
