UPDATED: Luigi Mangione, arrested earlier Monday on a gun charge in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was ordered held without bail and did not enter a plea in his first court appearance this afternoon in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
He faces several charges, including one felony count of forgery and one felony count of carrying a firearm without a license, according to media reports.
Police arrested the 26-year-old Mangione this morning after a tip that he was spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA.
PREVIOUS: Just five days after United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on the early morning streets of New York City, a “strong person of interest” has been detained on gun charges in Pennsylvania.
The individual was identified by law enforcement as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione. The individual sought by police across the nation and long suspected to be outside NYC, Mangione was picked up Monday at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, PA. According to reports, an employee at the fast-food joint recognized the suspect from a security cam photo of his face that was widely released by cops and others last week and distributed to media outlets.
CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and BBC as well as many online platforms immediately went to coverage of the case and all followed a live news conference by NYC Mayor Eric Adams providing further information on the arrest and “ongoing” investigation.
Mangione had in his possession a handwritten manifesto of sorts decrying the high cost of healthcare in America, the low standard of low healthcare overall in America and corporate profits from such care.
“Upon further investigation, officers recovered a firearm on his person, along with a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at the news conference.
“They also recovered clothing, including a mask consistent with those worn by our wanted individual,” Tisch added. “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,” along with a U.S. passport.
As one Fox news commentator said, there was “so much evidence” on the suspect in the CEO’s murder.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday in what police called 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 FBI announced late last week that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. That was in addition to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD had offered.
