A 26-year-old man named Luigi Mangione has been taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, for his alleged connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot outside a Manhattan hotel last Wednesday.
Mangione was found in possession of a “ghost” gun and a silencer capable of firing the same caliber ammunition used in the murder. He is currently being held and questioned by law enforcement officials in Pennsylvania, according to a recent report from Fox.
Thompson, 55, was killed in the targeted shooting outside his hotel in Midtown Manhattan, just steps away from Central Park. The gunman ambushed Thompson from behind as he was leaving the hotel and then fled the scene, making his way out of the city by bicycle before allegedly disappearing into the transit system.
Mangione was apprehended on Monday and taken into custody after a recent tip led investigators to a McDonald’s in Altoona, a city about 300 miles from New York City, per Fox 5 News.
Mangione was also found with several fake IDs and “materials” that appeared to express his disdain for the health insurance industry. Some online sources claim that these materials and writings may suggest a personal motive related to the suspect’s past as an employee of UnitedHealthcare. However, investigators are still actively working to establish a clear link between the suspect and the killing at the time of publication.
Mangione, described by police as matching the description of the gunman provided by witnesses, was apparently arrested without any incident at the low-key fast food spot in Altoona. One law enforcement official told Fox News that “the eyebrows match,” a reference to the pictures of the suspect taken from surveillance footage near the crime scene earlier this week.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Thompson’s murder was captured on security footage, showing the assailant fleeing the scene on a bicycle before disappearing into Central Park. Authorities later found a backpack matching the killer’s, believed to have been ditched by the suspect in Central Park after the murder.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams addressed the public in a press conference today, saying, “He (Mangione) matches the description of the identification we’ve been looking for,” adding that the suspect was “in possession of several items that we believe will connect him to this incident.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch also provided more details about the suspect, saying, “Officers recovered a firearm on his person as well as a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder… They also recovered clothing, including a mask consistent with those worn by our wanted individual. Also recovered was a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the ID our suspect used to check into his New York City hostel before the shooting incident.”
Tisch further revealed that officers discovered a handwritten document that appeared to outline the suspect’s motivation and mindset.
NYPD investigators are already en route to Pennsylvania to continue their investigation and to determine whether Mangione is indeed connected to the CEO’s murder.