Photo: New York City Police Department
Authorities have identified a person of interest in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Officials in New York City said that Luigi Mangione was detained in Pennsylvania on gun charges after he was identified by an employee at a McDonald's in Altoona, who recognized him from one of the wanted posters released by the police.
“At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, last Wednesday in midtown Manhattan,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference on Monday (December 9).
When Mangione was arrested, he was in possession of a 9mm ghost gun and a suppressor. The gun was possibly made using a 3D printer. He also had a handwritten two-page manifesto in which he expressed "ill will towards corporate America."
“We don’t think there’s any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some ill will towards corporate America,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Officers also found multiple fake IDs, including one that was believed to be used by Mangione in New York City.
Brian Thompson was shot and killed on Wednesday (December 4) outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where he was attending an investor conference. The gunman fired multiple shots, hitting Thompson in the back and right calf before fleeing the scene.
The suspect had been in New York City for over a week before the shooting, arriving from Atlanta on a Greyhound bus. He reportedly stayed at the HI New York City hostel using a fake New Jersey ID. Surveillance footage captured him at a Starbucks and the hostel, where he was seen without a mask.