Luigi Mangione, Suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO charged with murder

NEW YORK CITY - Police arrested a suspect Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a weapon, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.

The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said.

The Latest

• Prosecutors in New York have filed murder charges against Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHeathcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to the Associated Press.
• "Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione.  We only know what we have read in the media," the Mangione family said in a statement released Monday evening. "Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.  We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news."

• Mangione had a large sum of cash when he was arrested, prosecutor says Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said. According to officials, Mangione was carrying a passport and $10,000 in cash — $2,000 of it in foreign currency.
• "I have no tolerance, nor should anyone, for one man, using an illegal ghost gun, to murder someone because he thinks his opinion matters most," said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro at a press conference. "In a civil society, we are all less safe when ideologues engage in vigilante justice. In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this: He is no hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 9-1-1 at McDonald's this morning."

• Luigi Mangione appeared in court in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for an arraignment on gun charges. Video shows Mangione leaving the courthouse in Hollidaysburg after his arrest.
• A police criminal complaint charged him with forgery, carrying firearms without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing an instrument of crime and providing false identification to law enforcement.

 

How was Mangione arrested?

Mangione was taken into custody around 9:15 a.m. ET after police got a tip that he was eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference.

According to court documents, Mangione was sitting at a table in the rear of the McDonald's wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a silver laptop computer and had a backpack on the floor.

When he pulled down his mask, Altoona police officers "immediately recognized him as the suspect" in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the documents say.

Asked for identification, Mangione provided officers with a fake ID — a New Jersey driver’s license bearing another name and the incorrect date of birth.

When an officer asked Mangione if he’d been to New York recently, he "became quiet and started to shake," the court documents say

 He was carrying a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace, investigators 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, Tisch said.

Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had "ill will toward corporate America," Kenny said. The handwritten document "speaks to both his motivation and mindset," Tisch said.

He was being held in Pennsylvania on gun charges and eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death, Kenny said.

Who is Luigi Mangione?

Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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 spokesman said.

One of his cousins is a Maryland state legislator and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 1980s.

Read more here.

Who is Brian Thompson?

Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to UnitedHealthcare’s website. He lived in Minnesota, where the company is based.  

Before that, he was CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s government programs business including Medicare & Retirement and Community & State. 

He’d worked at UnitedHealth Group since 2004 and served in multiple leadership roles.

Before he joined UnitedHealth Group, Thompson was a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He was valedictorian of his class at the University of Iowa, according to Thompson's LinkedIn profile. 

UnitedHealthcare is ranked fifth on the Fortune 500 and employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. It’s the largest private health insurer in the US, according to CNBC, providing health insurance for more than 49 million people in the United States. Its Optum segment also provides care, runs one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits management businesses and offers technology services.

Timeline of events

Sunday, Nov. 24

• 10:11 p.m. — The suspected shooter arrives in New York City on a Greyhound bus at the Port Authority terminal. The bus originated in Atlanta and made six or seven stops on the way to New York. Police could not immediately determine where he got on the bus.

The man then takes a taxi to the area of the New York Hilton Midtown and is there for about a half hour.

• About 11 p.m. — The man takes a taxi to the HI New York City Hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave., where he stays until the morning of the shooting. He presents an ID that police believe to be fake. Two roommates in a shared room that had bunkbeds never saw his face, police said, because he kept his mask on.

When speaking with an employee in the hostel lobby, he briefly pulled down his facemask and smiled — a moment captured on surveillance images that have been widely circulated by police.

Friday, Nov. 29

The man was checked out of the hostel, where guests are automatically checked out if they don’t show at the desk by a certain time. Police don’t believe he stayed someplace else and checked back into the same hostel the next day.

Wednesday, Dec. 4

• About 5:30 a.m. — The suspected shooter leaves the hostel well before dawn.
• 5:41 a.m. — He appears on video at 54th Street and Sixth Avenue walking back and forth in the area of the Hilton hotel where United Healthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is holding its annual investor conference.

Police deduce that he rode a bicycle to the Hilton because it took him such a short time to get there. "Could he have stolen the bike? These are things we’re still looking into," Kenny said.

At some point, he went to a nearby Starbucks and purchased a bottle of water and at least one energy bar before returning to the hotel.

• 6:44 a.m. — He shoots Thompson as the executive arrives alone, on foot, having walked from a hotel across the street. The man flees.

• 6:48 a.m. — The man enters Central Park by bicycle at the 60th Street and Center Drive entrance. It's in the park and away from security cameras that police believe he discarded a gray backpack.

• 6:56 a.m. — He leaves the park at West 77th Street and Central Park West, still on the bicycle.
• 6:58 a.m. — He passes another camera on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue, still on the bicycle.
• 7 a.m. — He's at 86th Street, no longer with the bicycle.
• 7:04 a.m. — He enters a taxi northbound at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
• 7:30 a.m. — He's near the George Washington Bridge and the bus terminal there. It offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington.

After the attack, investigators find the words "deny," "defend" and "depose," written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.

Friday, Dec. 6

Kenny and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch reveal that investigators believe the gunman left New York City on a bus. Investigators say he entered the George Washington Bridge Bus Station but have not found video of him leaving or getting on a bus.

"It could possibly be a disgruntled employee, or a disgruntled client," Kenny says of a possible motive in a briefing.

Police found what they said was the man's backpack. Its contents are not disclosed.

Saturday, Dec. 7

Police continue to search Central Park; scuba divers are seen scouring a pond. The NYPD releases additional photos showing the suspected shooter next to and in the back seat of a taxi. In both images, he is seen wearing a blue, medical-style face mask.

Despite recovering a fingerprint from the Starbucks purchase and sending items for DNA testing, police have yet to publicly identify the suspect.

Sunday, Dec. 8

Scuba divers are again seen at a Central Park pond. Police declined to comment on the investigation.