Police on Monday arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who they believe is a strong person of interest in connection to last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Mangione on weapons charges after they found him carrying a gun, a fake ID from New Jersey with the same identification as the suspect used to check into a New York hostel, and identification with his real name.
In addition to the gun and fake identification, police also found a three-page handwritten note on Mangione in which he appeared to express “ill will toward corporate America,” Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives at the New York City Police Department, said at a news conference Monday.
The document “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at the presser.
CNN cited a law enforcement source as saying that the author of the documents apologized for “any strife or trauma,” but added, “These parasites had it coming.”
The New York Times also cited a senior law enforcement official who said the manifesto found on Mangione mentioned UnitedHealthcare by name and noted the size of the company and how much money it makes. The official added that the document condemned the healthcare industry for prioritizing profits over care.
Mangione was arraigned in Pennsylvania on the weapons charges Monday evening. According to court documents filed in Blair County, he was charged with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possession of instruments of crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement.
He has not been charged with Thompson’s murder and cannot be charged until he’s in New York.
Thompson, 50, was shot last week as he was on his way to an annual investor conference at the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan. The shooting kicked off a nationwide manhunt that captured the public’s interest and renewed the debate over access to healthcare.
Police released multiple images of the suspected gunman and arrested Mangione Monday morning at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee at the restaurant thought Mangione looked suspicious and called the authorities.
Mangione started shaking when he was questioned by police, according to court documents that were filed on Monday.
Mangione gave a responding officer a New Jersey driver’s license with another name, the criminal complaint says. Then, when another officer asked Mangione if he had been to New York recently, Mangione “became quiet and started to shake,” the complaint reads.
Altoona Police Department
