Police arrested a “strong person of interest” Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a weapon and writings linking him to the ambush.
The 26-year-old man had a gun believed to be the one used in the killing and writings suggesting his anger with corporate America, police officials said. He was taken into custody after police got a tip that he was eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference.
Police identified the suspect as Luigi Mangione. Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco, and his last known address is in Honolulu, Hawaii, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing.
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“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,” a spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group said Monday. “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.”
In an email to parents and alumni, Gilman headmaster Henry P.A. Smyth said it “recently” learned that Mangione, a 2016 graduate, was arrested in the CEO’s killing.
“We do not have any information other than what is being reported in the news,” Smyth wrote. “This is deeply distressing news on top of an already awful situation. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.”
Mangione, a high school valedictorian from a Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesman told The Associated Press on Monday.
He had learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication.
His posts also suggest that he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, the New Jersey shore and other destinations.
Police said the suspect arrested Monday had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace.
The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what’s known as the lower receiver. Some are sold in do-it-yourself kits and the receivers are typically made from metal or polymer.
Altoona police say officers were dispatched to a McDonald’s on Monday morning in response to reports of a male matching the description of the man wanted in connection with the United Healthcare CEO’s killing in New York City.
In a news release, police say officers made contact with the man, who was then arrested on unrelated charges. The Altoona Police Department says it’s cooperating with local, state, and federal agencies.
“This just happened this morning. We’ll be working, backtracking his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” Kenny said.
“And at some point we’ll work out through extradition to bring him back to New York to face charges here, working with the Manhattan district attorney’s office,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
“As of right now, the information we’re getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, capable of firing a 9 mm round,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing.
The document suggested the suspect had “ill will toward corporate America,” police added.
Mangione, 26, was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco, and his last known address in Honolulu, Hawaii, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing.
Police have arrested a 26-year-old with a weapon “consistent with” the gun used in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, New York City’s police commissioner says.
Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at Manhattan hotel. Thompson had traveled from Minnesota for the event.
A man being questioned Monday in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had writings that appeared to be critical of the health insurance industry, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The man also had a gun thought to be similar to the one used in the killing, the official said.
Police apprehended the man after receiving a tip that he had been spotted at a McDonald’s near Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 233 miles (375 kilometers) west of New York City, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Along with the gun, police found a silencer and fake IDs, according to the official.
— Michael R. Sisak
That’s also according to the law enforcement official.
— Michael R. Sisak
That’s according to a law enforcement official.
— Michael R. Sisak
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to address this development at a previously scheduled afternoon news briefing in Manhattan.
While still looking to identify the suspect, the FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. That’s on top of a $10,000 reward offered by the NYPD.
That included footage of the attack, as well as images of someone at a Starbucks beforehand.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side showed the person grinning after removing his mask, police said.
NYPD dogs and divers returned to New York’s Central Park today while the dragnet for Thompson’s killer stretched into a sixth day.
Investigators have been combing the park since the Wednesday shooting and searching at least one of its ponds for three days, looking for evidence that may have been thrown into it.
Police say the shooter used a 9 mm pistol that resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise. Police said they had not yet found the gun itself.
Ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
A man with a gun thought to be similar to the one used in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was taken into police custody Monday for questioning in Pennsylvania, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The man is being held in the area of Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 233 miles (375 kilometers) west of New York City, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The development came as dogs and divers returned Monday to New York’s Central Park while the dragnet for Thompson’s killer stretched into a sixth day.
— Michael R. Sisak
