ALTOONA, Pennsylvania, USA (AP) — Police arrested on Monday the suspect in the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, after a McDonald’s customer in Pennsylvania quickly identified a man who the agents found with a weapon, a mask, and writings linking him to the ambush.
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The chance sighting at the Altoona restaurant triggered a dramatic breakthrough in a challenging yet fast-moving investigation that had captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the health insurance industry.
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The suspect, identified by the police as Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26 years old, had a gun believed to have been used in last Wednesday's shooting against Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger towards American corporations, said the police. The young man was charged with weapons possession, forgery, and other charges.
According to the documents, Mangione was sitting at a table in the back of the McDonald's, wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop. When an officer asked him if he had been in New York recently, "he remained silent and began to shake."
In his backpack, the police found a black 3D-printed gun and a 3D-printed silencer, according to documents. The gun had a metal slide and a plastic grip with a threaded metal barrel. He was arrested around 9:15 am in Pennsylvania, the police said.
"The Commissioner of the New York Police Department, Jessica Tisch, stated that he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen targeted killing of Brian Thompson."
Mangione had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter, as well as a fraudulent New Jersey identification that matched the one the suspect used to check into a shelter in New York City before the shooting, Tisch said.
New York Police Department detective chief Joseph Kenny said that Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco, and his last known address is in Honolulu. A message left on Monday with a Philadelphia area phone number linked to Mangione was not immediately answered.
Mangione was processed and ordered to be detained without bail during a brief court hearing in Pennsylvania. When asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could "respond to that at a future date." He will ultimately be extradited to New York to face charges related to Thompson's death, Kenny said.
The police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had "ill will towards American corporations," Kenny said.
The handwritten document "speaks as much about his motivation as his mindset," said Tisch.
Mangione had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without serial numbers, making them difficult to trace, investigators said.
"So far, the information we are receiving from Altoona is that the weapon seems to be a ghost gun that may have been manufactured with a 3D printer, capable of firing a 9mm bullet," Kenny said.
The agents interrogated Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying several false identification documents, as well as a US passport, said Tisch. The agents found a silencer, "both compatible with the weapon used in the murder," the commissioner said.
Kenny said that the detectives from the New York Police Department and the staff from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office traveled to Altoona to interview Mangione.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday while walking alone to a hotel where UnitedHealthcare's parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
UnitedHealth Group thanked the authorities in a statement issued on Monday. "Our hope is that today's arrest brings some relief to Brian's family, friends, colleagues, and the many others affected by this indescribable tragedy," said a company spokesperson.
The shooting shook American companies and the health insurance industry in particular, leading companies to rethink their security plans and remove photos of their executives from their websites.
The shooter seemed to have been "lurking for several minutes" before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, said the police. He used a 9mm pistol that, according to the police, resembled the guns that farmers use to kill animals without making much noise.
Mangione attended an elite preparatory school in Baltimore and graduated as the outstanding student in 2016, according to the school's website. He then obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesperson said.
One of his cousins is a state legislator in Maryland and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 80s. On Monday, the police blocked the entrance to the property, which according to public records is linked to the suspect's parents. A crowd of journalists and photographers gathered outside.
In the days following the shooting, the police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of nine photographs and videos, including images of the attack, as well as pictures of the suspect at a Starbucks before it.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel in the Upper West Side of Manhattan showed the suspect smiling after removing the mask, police said.
On Monday, the police attributed the credit to the media for broadcasting the images and to the informant for recognizing the suspect and calling the authorities.
Researchers had previously suggested that the gunman could have been a disgruntled employee or customer of the insurance company. The ammunition found near Thompson's body had the words "delay", "deny", and "depose", mimicking a phrase used by critics of the insurance industry.
The gunman concealed his identity with a mask during the shooting, but left a trail of evidence, including a backpack he abandoned in Central Park, a cell phone found in a pedestrian plaza, and a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that, according to the police, he purchased at Starbucks minutes before the attack.
On Friday, the police said that the killer had left the city shortly after the shooting. Following the gunman's steps with the help of surveillance video, investigators say the shooter entered Central Park on a bike and left the park without his backpack.
Then he walked a couple of blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at the George Washington Bridge bus station, which is near the northern end of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and bus routes to Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, Kenny said.
The FBI announced on Friday night that it was offering a reward of $50,000, in addition to the reward of up to $10,000 offered by the New York Police Department.