BALTIMORE, MD (WBFF) — Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, was arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

During a press conference on Monday, December 9, New York City Detective Chief Joe Kenny told reporters that Mangione was born and raised in Maryland.

Preliminary investigation revealed the suspect is a cousin of Baltimore County Republican Delegate Nino Mangione of District 42A.

Online records showed Mangione graduated from Gilman School, a preparatory school in Baltimore City, and was the valedictorian of his 2016 class.

“He was an absolutely nice, smart, athletic and well-adjusted boy. I didn’t have a close relationship with him, but he had a lot of friends. But it’s quite surprising to hear the claim based on my memory of him. “Of course, a lot can change in eight years,” a man who studied with Mangione in high school told FOX45.

“We recently learned that the person arrested in connection with the assassination of the UnitedHealthcare CEO was a Gilman graduate, Luigi Mangione, Class of 2016. We have no information other than what is reported in the news,” the head of the Gilman school said in a statement. “This is deeply disturbing news on top of an already terrible situation. Our condolences go out to all those affected.”

In 2020, Mangione graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, a prestigious Ivy League institution, with a Bachelor of Science in engineering, a UPenn spokesperson told FOX45.

Mangione was taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania. “We’re going to work on it and retrace his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” Kenny said.

The suspect was in possession of a ghost gun capable of firing a nine-millimeter cartridge and a silencer.

Sources tell FOX5 that Mangione went off the grid in October and his classmates were unable to contact him.