The New York Police Department (NYPD) released this image of the person of interest wanted for questioning in connection to the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson via X (formerly Twitter). Photo: X / @NYPDnews
New York City's Police Commissioner has announced the prime suspect in the shooting of a health insurance chief executive has been arrested.
Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the man is 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who was born and raised in Maryland. His last known address was in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Altoona Police arrested him after a McDonald's employee recognised him in Pennsylvania, Tisch said.
Mangione was found acting suspiciously, had firearms and fraudulent items - believed to be fake IDs - on his person.
He was also found with a suppressor "consistent with the weapon used in the murder".
Mangione had been arrested on gun charges, but Tisch did not elaborated further on the charges.
"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," Tisch said.
NYPD detectives were on their way to Pennsylvania, where they hoped to interview the suspect further, she added.
Mangione had no prior arrests in New York, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
CCTV footage of the shootage. Photo: NYPD via CNN
He was "sitting there eating" at a Pennsylvania McDonald's when an employee of the restaurant called police, Kenny said.
Kenny credited the tip to the wide circulation of a photo the NYPD released last week of the person without a mask on.
Photo: NYPD
"Luckily, a citizen in Pennsylvania recognized our subject and called local law enforcement," he said.
Kenny said that "at this point in our investigation, we don't think he was trying to flee the country."
A handwritten document was recovered from Mangione too. "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," Kenny said.
The document is currently in the possession of the Altoona Police Department.
Police recovered an enormous amount of evidence in the investigation, which is ongoing, Kenny said.
Among the lines in a two-page document also found on Mangione were the following two quotes: "These parasites had it coming" and "I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done," a police official who had seen the document told CNN.
In the note, Mangione says he acted alone and that he was self-funded.
NYPD release photos of suspected gunman without mask Photo: NYPD
The document railed against the health care industry and suggested violence is the answer, according to the official.
Kenny said Mangione was in possession of a ghost gun that had the capability of firing a 9mm round and a suppressor. He added that the gun may have been 3D printed and that police will learn more details after ballistics testing.
Ghost guns are untraceable, self-assembled firearms, often put together with parts sold online, sometimes in as little as 30 minutes. The weapons, sometimes referred to by officials as "privately made firearms," or PMFs, do not have serial numbers, making them all the more difficult to track and regulate.
Purchasing kits to build ghost guns online does not require a background check, so buyers can sidestep the typical requirements that might come with buying a firearm.
More to come...
- CNN
