Person of interest in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder was arrested with ghost gun possibly made on 3D printer
A tip from a McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania provided police with a major breakthrough in the manhunt for the person of interest in last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The case that gripped the nation may soon be coming to a close as the NYPD announced that a person of interest was arrested on Monday. Luigi Mangione, 26, was taken in for questioning and is considered a “strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a Monday press conference.
The 26-year-old was arrested on firearms charges in Pennsylvania after a McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania, identified him from photos circulating of the suspect in Thompson’s shooting, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
He was ultimately charged with five state offenses, including carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing instruments of crime, and was arraigned on Monday.
Pennsylvania officials said Mangione had not given any statement on the charges and has ceased cooperating with officials.
“He has been arraigned and transported and will be securely housed pending the filing of additional charges in New York,” Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said during a press conference on Monday.
Officials said Monday they expect homicide charges against Mangione in a matter of days or hours.
Local police found the 26-year-old with “multiple fraudulent IDs,” including the fake New Jersey ID that he used to check into the hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where the now-viral unmasked photo of the suspect was taken.
He also had a ghost gun that could fire 9-millimeter bullets and was potentially made with a 3D printer, along with a suppresser, NYPD Comissioner Tisch said. Authorities also recovered clothing and masks that are “consistent with” those seen on the suspect in photos. Mangione was carrying a handwritten, three-page manifesto that was critical of the health care system. This document “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” Tisch said.
He does not have an arrest record in New York, and the investigation so far suggests the suspect acted alone, authorities said.
The major development comes as a private funeral was held Monday for Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO who was gunned down as he arrived at the Hilton hotel in Midtown for an investors’ conference.
During the six-day manhunt, investigators combed through thousands of hours of surveillance footage, followed up on hundreds of tips, and processed DNA and fingerprint evidence, Tisch said. Drones, scuba divers, and K-9 units were deployed to search for any additional clues to finding the suspected shooter.
Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco, and his last known address was in Honolulu, Hawaii, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Mangione’s social media profiles suggest he is a data engineer who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Gilman School, a private all-boys school in Baltimore where high school tuition begins at $37,690 per year. As the Gilman School’s valedictorian in 2016, he delivered a speech describing his class as “coming up with new ideas and challenging the world around it,” TheNew York Times reported.
