Police have identified Luigi Mangione, 26, as the suspect held in connection with the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was fatally shot in Manhattan last week, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed at a press conference on Monday, Dec. 9.
Mangione was detainedon Monday at an Altoona, Pa., McDonalds after an employee spotted him eating and notified police, authorities confirmed to PEOPLE.
He was discovered in possession of a 9mm “ghost gun” similar to that used to shoot Thompson, multiple fake IDs including a N.J. ID used to check into a hostel where the shooter allegedly stayed, anda 3-page manifestocritical of the health insurance industry, New York and Altoona police say.
AnX accountbelonging to a Luigi Mangione describes him as a Honolulu, Hawaii, resident with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said he was born and raised in Maryland and has ties to San Francisco, Calif.; Honolulu was his last known address.
PEOPLE confirms he was the high school valedictorian at the Gilman School, a prestigious boys prep school in Baltimore.
The suspect had no known prior arrests, Kenny said, and the NYPD did not have his name on their radar until his arrest in Altoona.
UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson Suspect.New York Police Department/Facebook
New York Police Department/Facebook
Officials with the NYPD and Manhattan District Attorney’s office are en route to Pennsylvania to interview Mangione, who was arrested on weapons charges in Pennsylvania and would have to be extradited to New York before facing potential murder charges.
Thompson was fatally shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, where the CEO was attending a company investors' conference. The hooded, masked suspect fled the scene on a bike, with police losing track of him in Central Park.
Luigi Mangione.Luigi Mangione/X.com
Luigi Mangione/X.com
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Brian Thompson.UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group
Back home in Minnesota,Thompson’s wife said he had been the subject of threatsbefore he embarked on his trip to New York.
A motive has not yet been established, but Kenny said it appeared evident from the manifesto that the shooter “has some ill will toward corporate America.”
source: people.com
