Police arrest ‘strong person of interest’ in health care CEO’s killing

In an image provided by the NYPD, the suspect in the killing of Brian Thompson is seen in the back of a taxi on the morning of the shooting, Dec. 4, 2024. The Police Department has released two new images of the man it believes fatally shot the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, including one showing him in the back seat of a taxi on the day of the shooting. (NYPD via The New York Times)

By Andy Newman, Chelsia Rose Marcius, William K. Rashbaum, Maria Cramer and Michael Wilson

A man has been arrested on gun charges and for questioning in connection with last week’s killing of a health insurance executive in midtown Manhattan that prompted a search up and down the East Coast, the New York Police Department said.

The man being questioned was identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, the police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said at a news briefing Monday afternoon. He was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee recognized him and called authorities about 9:15 a.m.

“He was sitting there eating,” Joseph Kenny, the Police Department’s chief of detectives, said at the briefing.

Mangione was carrying a gun, a silencer and other false identification cards similar to those they believe the killer used in New York, according to one of the law enforcement officials and a person briefed on the investigation. Mangione showed 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 Nov. 24, a senior law enforcement official said.

The gun appears to be a so-called ghost gun, assembled from parts that may have been made from a 3D printer, Kenny said.

Mangione was also carrying a handwritten manifesto that criticized health care companies for putting profits above care, according to two law enforcement officials.

He was born and raised in Maryland, and has lived in San Francisco and Honolulu, police said.

Officers with the New York Police Department search an area in Central Park in Manhattan, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. The gunman’s apparent getaway route, cycling north into Central Park before exiting and hailing a taxi on the Upper West Side, may have helped him elude capture because the park has many areas with no cameras. (Jeenah Moon/The New York Times)

On social media, a man named Luigi Mangione posted pictures of his travels with friends and family. A person with the same name attended a private high school in the Baltimore area, where he wrestled and became valedictorian, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with degrees in engineering, according to a school commencement program.

Mangione is in custody on local charges, the official said, possibly related to presenting the fake identification to police. He has not been arrested or charged in connection with the killing.

New York police investigators are traveling to Altoona, in western Pennsylvania, about 280 miles from the city, according to one of the law enforcement officials.

Police had been looking for the gunman since Wednesday morning’s attack on Brian Thompson, 50, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, outside a hotel in midtown. They believe the killer left New York by bus shortly after.

The person now in custody arrived in Altoona on a Greyhound bus, a senior law enforcement official said. Thompson’s killer is also believed to have taken a Greyhound when he arrived in New York City 10 days before the shooting.

The killing set off a search that stretched well beyond New York City and commanded days of national attention.

Here’s what else to know:

— New photographs released: Police over the weekend released two images they said showed the suspect, including one of him in the back seat of a taxi on the day of the shooting. They examined thousands of hours of footage from surveillance cameras to glean information about the man’s movements over the course of what they believed were his 11 days in New York City, starting with his arrival on a bus that originated in Atlanta on Nov. 24. They also recovered bullet casings at the scene with the words “depose,” “deny” and “delay” written on them — a possible reference to terms used by insurers to avoid paying claims.

— A recovered backpack: Officers also recovered a backpack in Central Park on Friday that they believe the man may have discarded as he cycled away from the scene of the shooting toward the Upper West Side, before he caught the cab. They had yet to publicly confirm if the backpack belonged to the man or contained any items of value to the investigation. Police found Monopoly money in the backpack, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

Why was Thompson in Manhattan?

The shooting occurred as Thompson arrived early at the hotel to prepare for a UnitedHealthcare investors’ day gathering.

Such events, which are common for publicly traded companies, give major shareholders and analysts who track the companies a chance to hear from executives and to ask questions.

The New York Hilton Midtown, one of New York City’s largest hotels, is in a busy tourist area, close to the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center, where the famous Christmas tree was lit Wednesday night.