Luigi Mangione: Police identify person of interest in UnitedHealthcare CEO's murder
NEW YORK - A person of interest in the brazen murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was identified Monday as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.
Mangione was taken into custody at an Altoona McDonald's on Monday morning after police acted on a tip from a restaurant employee.
Police allegedly found a gun that was similar to the one used in the shooting, a silencer, fake IDs and writings that were critical of the health insurance industry.
"Also recovered was a fraudulent New Jersey ID, matching the ID our suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting incident," police said.
Investigators revealed Monday that Mangione was born in Maryland and has ties to California and Hawaii. In multiple online postings, it appears that Manginoe has ties to the University of Pennsylvania.
Luigi Mangione: Police identify person of interest in UnitedHealthcare CEO's murder
Investigators in New York named Luigi Mangione as a person of interest in the brazen shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel last week. Mangione, 26, was taken in for questioning at a McDonald's in Altoon, Pennsylvania after being recognized by a restaurant employee.
According to a UPenn spokesperson, Mangione graduated from the Ivy League school with two degrees, a Bachelor and a Master of Science in Engineering on May 18, 2020.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting: Authorities question man in PA
Authorities are questioning a man in Pennsylvania in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week, the Associated Press reports.
Investigators don't believe Mangione was trying to flee the country, despite finding a U.S. passport on him when he was taken in for questioning. Detective Joe Kenny told reporters investigators will work to trace his steps from New York City to Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday in what police said was a "brazen, targeted" attack as he walked alone to the Hilton from a nearby hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
The shooter appeared to be "lying in wait for several minutes" before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. He used a 9 mm pistol that police said resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise.
In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of 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.
Investigators have 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.
New details in manhunt for suspect in UnitedHealthCare CEO's murder
Authorities are continuing their search for a gunman who shot and killed UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this week. Investigators now say the suspect used a fake ID to check into a hostel and traveled to New York City by bus.
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.
Monday’s development came as dogs and divers returned to New York’s Central Park while the dragnet for Thompson’s killer stretched into a sixth day.
Investigators have been combing the park since the Wednesday shooting and have been searching at least one of its ponds for three days.
On Friday, police found the backpack that they say the killer discarded as he fled from the crime scene to an uptown bus station, where they believe he left the city on a bus.
Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter fled into Central Park on a bicycle, emerged from park without his backpack and then ditched the bicycle.
He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
The FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD has offered. Police say they believe the suspect acted alone.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO killer search: What we know so far
Efforts to track down the gunman who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel expanded over the weekend.
Late Saturday, police released two additional photos of the suspect that appeared to be from a camera mounted inside a taxi. The first shows him outside the vehicle and the second shows him looking through the partition between the back seat and the front of the cab. In both, his face is partially obscured by a blue mask.
Through the park search, the NYPD has taken steps to minimize disruption to visitors, leading to an odd juxtaposition of joggers, tourists and an active crime scene.
On Monday, a small section of the park was cordoned off with blue and white police tape, giving divers searching a pond an area to change and get in the water. K-9 units sniffed leaf-covered planters between walking paths.
At one point, a group of about 30 French-speaking tourists followed a guide down a path, but they couldn't go any further because of the police tape. Before turning back, many of them whipped out their phones to snap a photo of the divers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report