Luigi Mangione: Suspect in healthcare CEO killing arrested at McDonald's

A 26-year-old individual has been taken into custody related to the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson that occurred in New York City last week.

Luigi Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which is roughly 280 miles (450 km) west of New York City, on Monday after a diner at the restaurant identified him.

The police reported that he was found with a handwritten note that detailed his "motivation and mindset."

Mr. Mangione did not plead when he appeared in a Pennsylvania court for his arraignment on five initial charges and was denied bail. A prosecutor indicated that a homicide charge is likely to be brought against him in the near future.

On Monday evening, Mr. Mangione faced official charges that included forgery, illegally possessing firearms, altering records or IDs, having tools for criminal activity, and supplying false identification to law enforcement.

Pete Weeks, the district attorney for Blair County in Pennsylvania, mentioned that murder charges from New York are expected to be filed "tonight or tomorrow" or very soon.

According to officials, Mr. Mangione ceased his cooperation following his detention.

He was shackled at both his hands and ankles when he appeared in court on Monday in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Mangione, dressed in jeans and a dark blue sweater, maintained a composed demeanor throughout the hearing, occasionally glancing at the individuals in attendance, including members of the press.

Investigators in New York City deployed a vast digital monitoring system, as well as police dogs, drones, and divers in a lake in Central Park, as they searched for evidence. This effort marked the beginning of a manhunt that would extend to nearby states.

In the end, it was a customer at McDonald's who recognized the suspect from news reports and let a staff member know, leading to a call to the police.

Authorities in Pennsylvania stated that officers responded to a report about a "suspicious man" who looked like the individual wanted in connection with Thompson's murder.

When the police arrived at the fast-food joint, Mr. Mangione presented them with a counterfeit New Jersey driver's license under the name Mark Rosario, according to court documents.

He fell silent and began to tremble when a police officer inquired whether he had visited New York recently, according to the criminal complaint.

According to the court documents, when he was informed that he would face arrest for providing a false name, he disclosed his actual name, Luigi Mangione.

When questioned about why he was dishonest, he responded to the officers, "I definitely shouldn't have," according to the court documents.

A look through his backpack revealed a pistol made with a 3D printer, a silencer that was also 3D-printed, and a magazine filled with six rounds of 9mm bullets.

Prosecutors revealed that he had a US passport with him, along with $10,000 in cash, which included $2,000 in foreign money. However, Mr. Mangione contested the total during the court proceedings.

Authorities disclosed that discovering his identity was entirely unexpected, as they hadn't included him on their suspect list prior to Monday.

Earlier in the day, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that the gun and suppressor taken from the suspect matched the type of weapon used in the homicide.

Once charges are brought against Mr. Mangione in New York, he will have the choice to either give up his right to contest extradition or challenge the request to be extradited.

If he chooses to give it up, he will be promptly handed over to the authorities in New York. However, if he decides to challenge it, the whole process might take around 30 to 45 days.

According to Joseph Kenny, the Chief of Detectives in New York, a three-page handwritten note discovered with Mr. Mangione indicated that he held negative feelings towards corporate America.

Mr. Kenny mentioned that Mr. Mangione grew up in Maryland but has connections to San Francisco, California. The most recent location where he was known to live is in Honolulu, Hawaii.

TrueCar, a platform for individuals looking to purchase vehicles, has verified that he was an employee there but departed in 2023.

During his teenage years, Mr. Mangione went to a private all-boys school in Maryland, where he achieved the honor of class valedictorian, a distinction typically given to the student with the highest academic performance.

A LinkedIn profile that seems to be his indicates that he served as a data engineer in California and obtained his degree from the University of Pennsylvania. While there, he was a teaching assistant and established a club focused on video game development.

Multiple posts on an account on X, which used to be known as Twitter and seemingly belonged to him, indicated that friends had been attempting to get in touch. One individual commented in October that "no one has heard from you in months."

Last Wednesday morning, 50-year-old Thompson was tragically killed when he was shot in the back outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where he was attending an investors' meeting for UnitedHealthcare, the large medical insurance company he headed.

Authorities report that he was the victim of a murder that had been carefully orchestrated beforehand.

The shell casings discovered at the location had the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" inscribed on them.

Investigators think these might point to what some critics refer to as the "three Ds of insurance." This phrase describes strategies that insurance companies employ to deny payment claims from patients within the complex and predominantly private healthcare system in the United States.

(Extra contributions by Cai Pigliucci and Mike Wendling)