Luigi Mangione appeared stunned by the media circus outside his Pennsylvania arraignment for allegedly killing a healthcare exec last year, mumbling, “All these people here for a mass murderer? Wild,” a cop testified Tuesday.

“There was a large media presence outside,” Altoona cop Stephen Fox recalled at a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan for the bushy-browed suspect — who by now has become an old hand at courting the press, striking camera-ready poses in Big Apple court while attracting throngs of mostly female admirers, including some willing to pay just to gaze at him at the defense table.

“Mr. Mangione looked back at all the reporters and stated, ‘All these people here for a mass murderer? Wild,” the officer said — testifying on the one-year anniversary of Mangione’s sensational capture in an Altoona McDonald’s, where he was done in by his bushy eyebrows.

It’s unclear who Mangione was referring to at the time. But ardent critics of health-insurance companies routinely refer to top executives in the industry as mass killers.

Mangione — a 27-year-old former prep-school valedictorian and Ivy League grad from Baltimore — is suspected of fatally gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk Dec. 4, 2024, because of the suspect’s issues with the industry.

His comment about the media attention took place as Fox and another officer were escorting him to and from his arraignment at Blair County Courthouse last year on Pennsylvania charges connected to allegedly flashing a fake identification and possessing a firearm without a license when captured at an Altoona McDonald’s days later while on the lam.

Fox, a military veteran who has served with the department for seven years, testified that Mangione, who currently faces trial in Manhattan for Thompson’s actual murder, almost tripped over his leg chains outside his Pennsylvania arraignment, leading to another notable admission from the defendant.

“He stumbled over his legs when he was shackled. I apologized to him and said, ‘I forgot that you were shackled,’ ” Fox testified.

“He said, ‘It’s OK – I’m going to have to get used to it.’”

Prosecutors and Mangione’s legal team are fighting over whether evidence collected by the Keystone State cops should be heard at his highly anticipated trial.

The defense has insisted authorities needed a warrant to search Mangione’s backpack, while the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has argued police followed the law regardless.

Fox’s testimony comes on the fifth day of the pretrial hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Altoona police uncovered troves of items allegedly connected to the crime, including the murder weapon, a silencer and so-called manifesto, during their search of Mangione according to officials.

Officers also pulled a fully loaded gun magazine wrapped in wet underwear out of Mangione’s backpack inside the McDonald’s, another cop testified Monday.

Fox backed colleague Christy Wasser’s account when she testified Monday that police opened Mangione’s backpack to make sure a bomb wasn’t inside.

But he also acknowledged authorities did not clear the location before starting the search.

“I’m not going to cause mass panic in a busy McDonald’s on a weekday morning when I don’t know if there is a bomb in there. … We cleared it, there was no bomb,” Fox said on the stand. “But then we moved it.”

Defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnofilo also pointed out to Fox that police missed finding the silencer at the McDonald’s — but found it later at the police station — that could have been shaped like a pipe bomb.

She also pressed Fox on his conduct after he read Mangione his Miranda rights.

The cop and suspect did engage in small talk on the drive from the eatery to the police station, with Fox recalling Mangione calling Altoona a “nice town.”

Mangione also expressed concern for the McDonald’s employee who called 911 on him.

“He was asking us if we were going to release her name to the press. … He stated that it would be bad for her if it got released,” Fox said.

Mangione was arrested after eagle-eyed customers at the fast-food joint recognized him from his distinctive eyebrows and encouraged the manager to call the cops — who have testified they almost immediately knew they had the wanted suspect from his brows, too.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges, including tied to the federal case that he also needs to face over the slaying.

The hearing will continue Thursday.