Law enforcement arrested and charged a suspect on Monday in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which occurred in New York City on Wednesday outside a Manhattan hotel.
Luigi Mangione, 26, of Towson, Md., was stopped by auth0rities in Altoona, Pa., on Monday. The detained suspect had a handwritten manifesto that criticized the health care industry for prioritizing profits and showed his “ill will toward corporate America,” according to law enforcement.
Carrying a fake New Jersey ID, Mangione was on a Greyhound bus before he walked into a McDonald’s in the morning, where he was recognized by an individual who alerted police. The man had in his possession a gun similar to the one used in Thompson’s murder, sources told ABC News.
New York Police Department detectives traveled to Pennsylvania, where they questioned the suspect, whose recovered ID matches one used by the assassin hours before the shooting, authorities said. Police have obtained writings critical of the insurance industry and a computer from the suspect, the Associated Press reported.
During his preliminary arraignment Monday evening, Pennsylvania authorities charged Mangione with two felonies and three misdemeanors for a total of five counts. The man is accused of forgery, possession of a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime, and providing false identification to police.
Mangione was denied bail at the court hearing. He did not enter a plea related to the charges.
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro said he expects New York authorities “will file charges very soon” because Thompson’s shooting occurred in Manhattan.
The Democratic governor also thanked the heroic individual who spotted Mangione at the McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona and called police.
Mangione, a tech aficionado, has an anti-capitalist online presence. The suspect was valedictorian in 2016 of his high school house at the Gilman School in Baltimore, an all-boys prep academy, and has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Mangione majored in computer science and minored in mathematics.
NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch described the attack as “targeted” last week. The killer can be seen on a newly released video, captured shortly before the shooting happened around 7 a.m., waiting for Thompson. When Thompson appears on-screen, walking down the street, the gunman runs across the street and shoots him from just a few feet away.
The shooter fled the scene by bike through Central Park. He taxied to a bus facility and eventually boarded a bus leaving New York City. The NYPD released an image over the weekend of the man in the back of a cab.
Authorities found the suspect’s backpack in Central Park on Saturday. In it was a Tommy Hilfiger jacket and Monopoly money, ABC News reported.
Thompson, 50, was a high-ranking official for one of the largest health care insurers, prompting some online to respond to his death with vulgar comments about privatized health care. Detectives discovered the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on shell casings where Thompson was murdered, media outlets reported, which is a common phrase used by health care industry critics.