By CEDAR ATTANASIO, Mark SCOLFORO, and Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) After a quick-thinking Pennsylvania McDonald’s patron recognized a man with a rifle, mask, and inscriptions connecting him to the ambush, authorities detained and accused a suspect Monday in the heinous Manhattan murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.
A difficult but quick-paced inquiry that had captured the public’s attention in the five days since the shooting that rocked the corporate world was abruptly interrupted by the unexpected sighting at the Altoona eatery.
According to authorities, 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a well-known Maryland real estate family, had a gun that was allegedly used in Brian Thompson’s shooting last Wednesday in addition to writings that suggested resentment toward corporate America.
According to an online court docket, Manhattan prosecutors charged Mangione with murder and other offenses late Monday. He was charged with forgery, possession of an unregistered firearm, and giving police false identification, and he stayed incarcerated in Pennsylvania.
According to court filings, Mangione was seated in the back of the McDonald’s, gazing at a laptop computer while donning a blue medical mask. According to NYPD deputy commissioner Kaz Daughtry, a customer saw him and a staff member dialed 911.
When the suspect took off his mask, Altoona Police Officer Tyler Frye and his partner stated they instantly recognized him. We simply didn’t give it much thought. He said, “We knew that was our guy.”
According to a criminal complaint based on their testimonies of the arrest, he got quiet and began to shiver when one of the officers questioned if he had recently visited New York.
According to the complaint, officers discovered a black silencer and a black, 3D-printed pistol in his rucksack. The handgun included a metal threaded barrel, a plastic handle, and a metal slide. Police said he was arrested at approximately 9:15 a.m.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Mangione had a fake New Jersey ID that matched one the suspect used to check into a hostel in New York City prior to the shooting, as well as clothes and a mask that matched those worn by the gunman.
Born and bred in Maryland, Mangione has connections to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
In a message shared on social media late Monday, Mangione’s cousin, Maryland congressman Nino Mangione, said, “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.” We ask everyone to pray for everyone involved, and we extend our prayers to Brian Thompson’s family.
At a brief court session, Mangione was arraigned and ordered to be jailed without bail. He requested if he could respond to the question of whether he need a public defender at a later time. He eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson s death, Kenny said.
Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had ill will toward corporate America, Kenny said.
The handwritten document speaks to both his motivation and mindset, Tisch said.
Altoona Deputy Chief of Police Derek Swope would not characterize the writings except to say they were voluminous.
They were very detailed, and everything we have is going to be turned over to NYPD, he told The Associated Press.
Mangione 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, investigators said.
He also had a passport and $10,000 in cash $2,000 of it in foreign currency, the local prosecutor said. Mangione, who said Hawaii was his most recent address, disputed the amount.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
UnitedHealth Group thanked law enforcement in a statement. 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 company spokesperson said.
The shooting shook U.S. businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites.
The shooter appeared to be lying in wait for several minutes before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, police said.
Mangione attended an elite Baltimore prep school, graduating as valedictorian in 2016, according to the school s website. He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesperson said.
One of his cousins is a Maryland state legislator and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 1980s. On Monday, police blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to the suspect s parents. A swarm of reporters and photographers gathered outside.
Mangione went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh after the shooting, and likely was in a variety of locations across the state, said Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said.
Based on everything we have seen, he was very careful with trying to stay low profile, avoid cameras not all that successfully in some cases, but that was certainly the effort he was making, Bivens said.
In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of nine photos and video including footage of the attack, as well as images of the suspect at a Starbucks beforehand.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan s Upper West Side showed the suspect grinning after removing his mask, police said.
On Monday, police credited news outlets for disseminating the images and the tipster for recognizing the suspect and calling authorities.
Investigators earlier suggested the gunman may have been a disgruntled employee or client of the insurer. Ammunition found near Thompson s body bore the words delay, deny and depose, mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
The gunman concealed his identity with a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence, including a backpack he ditched in Central Park, a cellphone found in a pedestrian plaza and a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that police say he bought at Starbucks minutes before the attack.
On Friday, police said the killer had left the city soon after the shooting. Retracing the gunman s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle and emerged from the park without his backpack. He made his way to a bus station that offers commuter service to New Jersey and routes to the East Coast, police said.
Healthcare CEO shooting
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