It pays to be a white college student, apparently even when suspected of killing two people and kidnapping another. Peter Manfredonia, a 23-year-old University of Connecticut senior from Sandy Hook, has been on the run since Friday, according to the Connecticut Post. That’s when he allegedly attacked two men with a machete, killing one of them. On Saturday, Manfredonia fatally shot a former Newtown High School classmate in the head. Still, police used sympathetic and understanding words to describe the subject of a four-state manhunt, in a public plea for him to turn himself in Tuesday.
“My message is to Peter directly -- Peter, we've talked to your family, your friends and your roommates. All of them have said the same thing. That this behavior is out of the ordinary for you,” Connecticut State Police Lt. John Aiello said Tuesday at a press conference. “We know this is not who you are.”
Manfredonia, who at one point lived on the same street as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter, was en route to meet a former girlfriend when his motorcycle broke down Friday, NBC News reported. He ended up killing Theodore DeMers, a man who offered him a ride, police told the New Haven Register. An onlooker trying to help DeMers was also critically injured in the attack but was last reported in stable condition, according to the newspaper.
That was hardly the end of the violent spree. A Connecticut man also told police that Manfredonia held him hostage Sunday and stole his guns, truck, and other supplies during a home invasion, the New Haven Register reported. Police found the victim’s truck in Derby and launched a vast manhunt in the area, which is about eight miles northwest of New Haven. That hunt extended to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland when reports of potential sightings came in.
“PA law enforcement agencies are actively looking for the suspect. Do NOT approach, he is ARMED AND DANGEROUS, call 911 immediately,” Connecticut State Police tweeted Sunday.
Still, it wasn't until police got a 911 call asking for a well-being check at a home on Roosevelt Drive that they discovered Manfredonia had allegedly shot and killed former classmate Nicholas Eisele and kidnapped his girlfriend, according to NBC Connecticut. Video surveillance showed Manfredonia walking toward Eisele's house, the New Haven Register reported.
Police found Eisele’s girlfriend unharmed Sunday, and the last report of Manfredonia’s possible whereabouts was in Hagerstown, Maryland. Authorities again put out the warning to the public that Manfredonia is considered armed and dangerous Tuesday.
Police treatment of the suspect, however, didn’t always paint him as such. Social media users compared authorities’ seemingly kind approach with Manfredonia to that of George Floyd, a Black man who was shown in a viral video pleading with Minnesota police that he couldn't breathe as an officer kneeled on his neck. He later died, according to his family’s attorney Ben Crump. Floyd was suspected of forgery, Crump said in a news release.
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"White boy who kills TWO people, police ask nicely for him to come in. Black man accused of 'writing a bad check', gets strangled to death. See the fucking problem with this country," teacher Damian Dena tweeted in response to a BuzzFeed News article about the search for Manfredonia.
Twitter user Hope Olivia critiqued BuzzFeed’s coverage, which included that Manfredonia had raised $1,845 for anti-violence and anti-gun charities last year. “When are we going to stop defending young white criminals?” Olivia asked.
Lt. Aiello said during his press conference that he simply wants a "peaceful" ending to the scenario. "Please call us,” he said, addressing Manfredonia directly. “We're waiting here to listen to you."