Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting taken into custody after being recognized at McDonald’s – live updates
Suspect recognized while at McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania
The suspect was at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania and was recognized by an employee who then called local police.
New York authorities said that responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs as well as a US passport.
Upon further investigation, officers recovered a firearm on the man, as well as a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder.
Key events
The Altoona Police Department in Pennsylvania said that officers were dispatched to the McDonald’s at 9:14 am this morning, after receiving reports of a male matching the description of the United Healthcare CEO murder suspect.
“Today at 9:14 am, Altoona Police Officers were dispatched to a McDonald’s Restaurant for reports of a male matching the description of the United Healthcare CEO murder suspect” the police department said in a statement. “Officers made contact with the male who was subsequently arrested on unrelated charges.”
At this time, the Altoona Police Department is cooperating with local, state, and federal agencies, they said, adding that more information will be released later this evening.
It appears that Luigi Mangione was interviewed by University of Pennsylvania publication – Penn Today – in 2018 about starting a video game development club.
“In high school, I started playing a lot of independent games and stuff like that, but I wanted to make my own game, and so I learned how to code,” Mangione, who is described as “Mangione, a junior from Baltimore” said.
“In my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I learned [on my own] how to program, and that’s why I’m a computer science major now; that’s how I got into it,” he added. “I just really wanted to make games.”
He and another student decided to start University of Pennsylvania Game Research and Development Environment (UPGRADE), the article states, a club where students develop their own video games.
Authorities say that as of now, they believe that the person of interest acted alone.
“We believe at this point — our investigation is leaning toward he was acting alone,” said Joseph Kenny, the New York City police department chief of detectives.
On what appears to be Mangione’s GoodReads account, the 26-year-old reviewed the Unabomber’s book, giving it four stars out of five.
In his lengthy review, Magnione described Ted Kaczynski’s “In Industrial Society and Its Future” as a book “clearly written by a mathematics prodigy” adding that it “reads like a series of lemmas on the question of 21st century quality of life.”
“It’s easy to quickly and thoughtless write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies” the review reads. “But it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.”
He adds: “He was a violent individual – rightfully imprisoned – who maimed innocent people. While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary.”
Later in the review, he states:
These companies don’t care about you, or your kids, or your grandkids. They have zero qualms about burning down the planet for a buck, so why should we have any qualms about burning them down to survive?
We’re animals just like everything else on this planet, except we’ve forgotten the law of the jungle and bend over for our overlords when any other animal would recognize the threat and fight to the death for their survival. “Violence never solved anything” is a statement uttered by cowards and predators.
Luigi Mangione was eating at the McDonald’s when an employee recognized him, police say.
Police report that Mangione attended college in Pennsylvania. His LinkedIn page indicates he studied at the University of Pennsylvania for both his undergraduate education and his master’s degree, graduating in 2020.
His most recent employment appears to have been in Santa Monica, California, per his Linkedin.
The document found on the person of interest is a three-page handwritten document, police said.
Suspect had ghost gun that can be made on 3D printer, capable of firing 9mm rounds
Mangione, the person of interest, has been arrested on firearm charges, authorities said.
When he was arrested, police said that he was in possession of a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, that had the capability of firing a nine millimeter round and a suppressor.
The police have not released the details of what was written in the document they obtained on the person of interest, but said that “it does seem that he has some some ill will toward corporate America”.
Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives for the New York police department, said that “there’s numerous lynchpins in this case” adding that authorities “recovered an enormous amount of forensic evidence”.
Suspect taken into custody; he was born and raised in Maryland, authorities say
The person of interest, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was taken into custody today in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
He was born and raised in Maryland, officials said, with ties to San Francisco, California, and his last known address was Honolulu, Hawaii.
He has no prior arrest history in New York, police said.
NYPD detectives are on route to Pennsylvania right now to interview the subject further, officials said.
“This apprehension is thanks to the tireless work of the greatest detectives in the world and, of course, the strong relationships we have with our local law enforcement partners on every level, local, state and federal” Tisch said.
Police recovered mask and clothes consistent with those worn by gunman, officials say
The police also recovered clothing on the man, including a mask consistent with those worn by the gunman, authorities said.
Police also recovered a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the ID the man used to check into the New York City hostel before the shooting incident.
Additionally, officers recovered a handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset, said Jessica Tisch, New York’s police commissioner.
Suspect recognized while at McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania
The suspect was at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania and was recognized by an employee who then called local police.
New York authorities said that responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs as well as a US passport.
Upon further investigation, officers recovered a firearm on the man, as well as a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder.
New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, says at a news conference that they found the person of interest through “good old fashioned police work”.
“We have a strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city” he said.
Luigi Mangione, 26, named as person of interest in shooting
New York officials have named Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old male, as their person of interest.
“At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen targeted murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare” said Jessica Tisch, New York City’s police commissioner.
Person of interest has been arrested on local charges – report
The man being questioned in connection with the fatal shooting of the United HealthCare CEO has reportedly been arrested on local charges, according to CNN and the New York Times.
When the man was detained at McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, today, the person of interest reportedly showed the police the same fake New Jersey identification that the man believed to be the gunman presented when he checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on 24 November, according to a senior law enforcement official.
The New York mayor, Eric Adams, is expected to discuss the news in this case at a press conference scheduled for 1.30pm ET today.
The gun on the suspect, which reportedly matches the gun believed to have been used in the shooting, is what investigators believe was a ghost gun, a senior law enforcement official told the New York Times.
Ghost guns are unregistered and untraceable as they are created by assembling pieces.
Police say they found a manifesto on the person of interest – report
Police say that they found a handwritten manifesto on the person of interest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
A senior law enforcement official told the New York Times that the manifesto criticized healthcare companies for putting profits above care.
Police are questioning 26-year-old man in Pennsylvania in connection with shooting – report
Police are reportedly questioning a 26-year-old man named Luigi Mangione in Pennsylvania in connection with the New York City shooting death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.
Officials told CNN that they found on him a gun with a suppressor, multiple fake IDs, and some documents that investigators also want to examine.
