UnitedHealthcare did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment. In a statement provided to other media, a company spokesperson said: “Our hope is that today’s concerns bring some comfort to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues, and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We ask law enforcement to We thank them and will continue to cooperate with this investigation. We ask that you please respect the privacy of the family as they mourn.”
A search for Mangione’s online footprint reveals a typical 20-something, including accounts on Pinterest, Skype, Instagram, and Facebook. On X, what appears to be his account features an image that appears to be an X-ray after extensive spinal surgery, a clear reference to health care in his online account history. It is one of the few.
The GoodReads account that posted the suspect’s photo also shared his username and email address, and the GitHub account linked to Mangione has the book Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery. Contains several books related to lower back pain, such as . Other titles include “Hillbilly Elegy” by U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and “Industrial Society and its Future,” an anti-technology critique known colloquially as the Unabomber Manifesto. The GoodReads account has since been set to private.
Mangione, who was valedictorian at a private high school in the Baltimore area, was apparently an avid gamer, with dozens of game titles listed on an Xbox Live account that shares his name. According to a since-deleted article in the university’s Newshub, Mangione said in 2018 that he had a passion for creating video games and helped found the University of Pennsylvania’s Game Development Club, which soon became a It is said that 60 students participated.
On a GitHub page that appears to belong to Mangione, he shared a code repository focused on machine learning and human-computer interaction. Among them is a project titled “Meccanoid-Imitate,” which appears to use Arduino, an open-source, easy-to-use electronics platform, and a programmable mechanoid robot. The repository was last updated four years ago and includes an animated GIF showing Mangione. He moves his arms in a classroom-like area, and the mechanoid robot behind him imitates his gestures.
Updated on December 9, 2024 at 5:30 PM ET with additional information regarding Mangione’s employment history.