Murder charges were filed late Monday against the suspect accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. NBC Chicago’s Natalie Martinez reports.
Police arrested a suspect Monday in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s customer in Pennsylvania spotted a man who officers found with a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson in Manhattan, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said.
He was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. A murder charge was filed in New York late Monday.
The latest details in the case, including developments from a Monday night court hearing and UnitedHealth Group's reaction to the arrest, can be found below:
Suspect held without bail
Mangione was arraigned and ordered held without bail during a brief court hearing. Asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could “answer that at a future date.” He eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death, Kenny said.
UnitedHealth Group comments on the arrest
“Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” a spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group said Monday. “We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn.”
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO shook when police confronted him, officers say
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Altoona police say officers were dispatched to a McDonald’s on Monday morning responding to reports of a male matching the description of the man wanted in connection with the United Healthcare CEO’s killing in New York City.
Mangione was sitting in the rear of the McDonald’s wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop computer, court documents said. A customer saw him and an employee called 911, said Kaz Daughtry, an NYPD deputy commissioner.
Altoona Police Officer Tyler Frye said he and his partner recognized the suspect immediately when he pulled down his mask. “We just didn’t think twice about it. We knew that was our guy,” he said.
When one of the officers asked if he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake,” according to a criminal complaint based on their accounts of the arrest.
In his backpack, police found a black, 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed black silencer, the complaint said. The pistol had a metal slide and plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel. He was taken into custody at about 9:15 a.m., police said.
Mangione had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Suspect had a ‘ghost gun,’ police say
“As of right now, the information we’re getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, capable of firing a 9 mm round,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing.
Ghost guns, nearly untraceable weapons that can be made at home, have increasingly turned up at crime scenes around the U.S. in recent years.
Details of suspect's background revealed
Mangione attended an elite Baltimore prep school, graduating as valedictorian in 2016, according to the school’s website. He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesperson said.
One of his cousins is a Maryland state legislator and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 1980s. On Monday, police blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to the suspect’s parents. A swarm of reporters and photographers gathered outside.
Mangione went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh after the shooting, and likely “was in a variety of locations across the state,” said Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said.
“Based on everything we have seen, he was very careful with trying to stay low profile, avoid cameras — not all that successfully in some cases, but that was certainly the effort he was making,” Bivens said.
