Authorities arrested a suspect and charged him with murder Monday in the New York City killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare 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.
The chance sighting at the restaurant in Altoona led to a dramatic break in a challenging but fast-moving investigation that captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the business world.
Manhattan prosecutors Monday evening filed murder and other charges against Luigi Nicholas Mangione in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, according to an online court docket.
He remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where the 26-year-old was previously charged with forgery, firearms not to be carried without a license, tampering with records or identification, instruments of a crime and false identification to law enforcement, according to police.
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.
"The suspect was in a McDonald's and was recognized by an employee who then called local police," NYPD Comissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. "Responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport."
Mangione had a firearm on him when he was arrested, as well as a suppressor, “both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” the commissioner said. Officers also recovered clothing, including a mask, “consistent with those worn by our wanted individual,” she said.
“Also recovered was a fraudulent New Jersey ID, matching the ID our suspect used to check into his New York City hostel before the shooting incident,” Tisch said. “Additionally officers recovered a handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset.”
NYPD detectives and members of the Manhattan district attorney's office are traveling to Pennsylvania to interview Mangione, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at the briefing.
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.
Kenny said Mangione, who was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco. His last known address was in Honolulu.
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.
Altoona Deputy Chief of Police Derek Swope would not characterize the writings except to say they were voluminous.
“They were very detailed, and everything we have is going to be turned over to NYPD,” he told The Associated Press.
The chief of detectives said investigators do not believe Mangione intended to leave the U.S.
“The passport, we don’t believe that he was planning on doing any traveling,” he said. “At this time we don’t think he, at this point in our investigation, we don’t think he was trying to flee the country.”
Mangione had 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.
He also had a passport and $10,000 in cash — $2,000 of it in foreign currency, the local prosecutor said. Mangione, who said Hawaii was his most recent address, disputed the amount.
“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,” Kenny said.
Mangione attended an elite Baltimore prep school, graduating as valedictorian in 2016, according to the school’s website. In his graduation speech, he talked about his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.”
He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesman said.
In a statement released Monday, a spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, said the company's "hope is that today's apprehension brings some relief to Brian's family, friends, colleagues and many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy."
"We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them in this investigation," the spokesperson said. "We ask that everyone respect the family's privacy as they mourn."
The development came as the search for the suspected gunman stretched into the sixth day. Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, police said. He used a 9 mm pistol that police said resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise.
In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of nine photos and video — including footage of the attack, as well as images of the suspect at a Starbucks beforehand.
On Monday, police credited news outlets for disseminating the images and the tipster for recognizing the suspect and calling authorities.
“Luckily, a citizen in Pennsylvania recognized the subject and called local members of the Altoona Police Department responded to the call, and based on their investigation, they notified the NYPD,” Kenny said.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side showed the suspect grinning after removing his mask, police said.
Investigators earlier suggested the gunman may have been a disgruntled employee or client of the insurer. Ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
The gunman concealed his identity with a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence, including a backpack he ditched in Central Park, a cellphone found in a pedestrian plaza and a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that police say he bought at Starbucks minutes before the attack.
On Friday, police found the backpack that they say the killer discarded as he fled from the crime scene to an uptown bus station, where they believe he left the city.
Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter fled into Central Park on a bicycle, emerged from the park without his backpack and then ditched the bicycle.
He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, Kenny said.
The FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD offered.