Police are reportedly questioning a man in Pennsylvania in connection with the New York City shooting death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.
Jessica Tisch, New York City police commissioner, identified the suspect as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione during a press conference on Monday.
“At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen targeted murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare,” said Tisch.
Mangione was seen at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and was recognized by someone who then called local police.
“Today at 9.14am, Altoona police officers were dispatched to a McDonald’s restaurant for reports of a male matching the description of the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect. Officers made contact with the male who was subsequently arrested on unrelated charges. At this time, the Altoona police department is cooperating with local, state, and federal agencies,” local police said in a statement on Monday.
Police found Mangione in possession of a firearm suppressor, a mask consistent with that worn by the gunman, a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the ID the man used to check into the New York City hostel before the shooting, and a handwritten document that “speaks to both his motivation and mindset”, Tisch noted.
NYPD detectives were headed to Pennsylvania to interview the subject further, officials said.
“This apprehension is thanks to the tireless work of the greatest detectives in the world and, of course, the strong relationships we have with our local law enforcement partners on every level, local, state and federal,” Tisch said.
Upon arrest, police said that Mangione was in possession of a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, that had the capability of firing a 9mm round and a suppressor. A ghost gun is a weapon put together with parts sold online, and the one found, police say, matches descriptions of the gun used in the shooting.
Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, officials said, with ties to San Francisco, California, and his last known address was Honolulu, Hawaii.
His LinkedIn page indicates he studied at the University of Pennsylvania for both his undergraduate education and his master’s degree, graduating in 2020.
A Penn spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that Mangione had received his bachelor of science in engineering and master of science in engineering at the school.
His most recent employment appears to have been in Santa Monica, California, per his LinkedIn.
Earlier on Monday, citing a senior law enforcement source, the New York Times reported that the man we now know was Mangione was confronted at a McDonald’s – and showed the same fake New Jersey identification that police believe Thompson’s killer presented when he checked into a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on 24 November. The outlet said an elderly employee had spotted the man and called 911.
Monday’s development came after police on Sunday again searched a Central Park lake for evidence – including the murder weapon – connected to the Midtown shooting.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the New York police department and the US marshals had sent investigators to Atlanta to make inquiries and review surveillance footage from Greyhound bus stops on the route from Georgia.
Prior to Mangione’s arrest, two additional images were also released of a masked man in the back of and outside a taxi he used soon after Thompson was fatally shot outside a Midtown hotel the morning of 4 December. Thompson’s killer used a gun with a suppressor, surveillance video showed.
Only one photograph of the suspect without a mask had previously been made public: an image taken at a hostel soon before the murder when he apparently dropped the mask at the request of a front desk employee.
NYPD divers searched Central Park’s lake on Sunday after failing to recover anything from a similar underwater drag a day earlier, police confirmed in Monday’s press conference. That came after a backpack containing a jacket and Monopoly money that is believed to be the Thompson murder suspect’s was found in the park.
In a statement to the Guardian, a UnitedHealthcare spokesperson responded to the news of the arrest of a person of interest in connection with the killing of Brian Thompson.
“Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” the statement said. “We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn.”
Though his survivors include a widow and two sons aged 16 and 19, Thompson’s death elicited a grim schadenfreude from many in the US who had been mistreated by the country’s rapacious health insurance industry. A private funeral for Thompson was planned for Monday, NBC New York reported.
