ALTOONA, Pa. – Police have recognized a 26-year-old Maryland man because the suspect in final week’s assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot from behind exterior a New York City Hilton resort hours earlier than a shareholder convention Wednesday.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Monday morning after a McDonald’s buyer and worker noticed him and thought he matched the suspect on a wished poster. Police responded to the situation for studies of an individual matching the outline of the person wished for questioning in Thompson’s homicide, however Altoona police stated they initially took him into custody on unrelated prices.
When officers approached, they instantly acknowledged him, although he was carrying a medical masks, in line with court docket paperwork. However, he allegedly handed over a pretend ID and gave a phony title. When police requested if he’d lately been to New York, Mangione allegedly “turned quiet and began to shake.”
High-level regulation enforcement sources informed Fox News and Fox News Digital that he had a “ghost gun” much like the suspected murder weapon, a suppressor and a pretend ID in his possession when taken into custody. The Associated Press additionally reported he had writings essential of the healthcare trade.
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Luigi Mangione pictured in a police holding cell in Altoona, Pennsylvania. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
Mangione graduated from the elite Gilman School, a non-public highschool in Baltimore, on the prime of his class. Video of his commencement ceremony exhibits he delivered the graduation speech, the place he thanked his dad and mom and his classmates’ dad and mom for making the funding.
“He appeared like a wise child, he was all the time doing the appropriate factor, it appeared like,” a former classmate informed Fox News Digital Monday. “Wasn’t loopy.”
He stated the information got here as a shock when he heard of the arrest.
Read the Pennsylvania arrest warrant:
“It’s not like he wasn’t outgoing, or introverted,” he stated. Nice child, all the time had a smile on his face. Never actually received the vibes of him being socially awkward. So that’s why I’m actually stunned. I graduated in 2015; he graduated in 2016, It’s loopy how 10, 9 years later, how folks can change.”
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Luigi Mangione pictured in a Facebook photograph. Mangione was taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Monday morning in reference to the ambush homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. (Luigi Mangione/Facebook)
In a press release, the Gilman School referred to as the assassination an “terrible scenario.”
“Luigi Mangione’s suspected involvement on this case is deeply distressing information on prime of an already terrible scenario,” a spokesperson informed Fox News. “Our hearts exit to everybody affected. Here on campus, our focus will stay on caring for and educating our college students.”
Mangione went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with bachelor and grasp’s levels in engineering and was a part of the Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society for Electrical and Computer Engineering.
WATCH: Luigi Mangione delivers 2016 valedictorian speech
Mangione was lively on social media, with accounts on X, Facebook and Instagram. Posts mentioned a spread of pursuits, together with synthetic intelligence and social commentary.
His felony file features a December 2023 misdemeanor case in Honolulu, Hawaii, for trespassing on the Nuuanu Pali Lookout.
Luigi Mangione poses with a McDonald’s meal in a Facebook {photograph} posted on Aug. 24, 2019. He was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Monday in reference to the taking pictures loss of life of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Luigi Mangione/Facebook)
He was a periodic poster on Goodreads, the literature-focused social media web site, the place he wrote a evaluation for a guide by the Unabomber Ted Kaczysnki.
“It’s straightforward to rapidly and inconsiderate write this off because the manifesto of a lunatic, as a way to keep away from going through among the uncomfortable issues it identifies,” he wrote. “But it is merely unattainable to disregard how prescient a lot of his predictions about trendy society turned out.”
A screenshot from surveillance footage launched by the NYPD exhibits an alleged particular person of curiosity wished in connection of the taking pictures loss of life of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (NYPD Crime Stoppers )
Writing about Kaczynski’s “Industrial Society and Its Future,” he quoted one other on-line “take that [he] discovered fascinating.”
“When all different types of communication fail, violence is critical to outlive,” he wrote. “You might not like his strategies, however to see issues from his perspective, it is not terrorism, it is warfare and revolution.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny informed Fox News over the weekend that it was too quickly to allege a motive however acknowledged that the suspect did depart potential clues behind.
“We’re not going to decide to a motive proper now, however, you realize, clearly once you take a look at the writing, you take a look at the sufferer’s employment, you realize, it might probably be a disgruntled worker or a disgruntled shopper, however we’re not we’re not ruling that out, however we definitely not committing to it presently,” Kenny stated.
This undated photograph offered by UnitedHealth Group exhibits UnitedHealthcare chief govt officer Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group through A)
At the scene, police discovered bullet casings with handwritten phrases on them, “depose,” “deny” and “defend,” drawing comparisons to the guide “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It” – hypothesis swirled that the slaying might have grown out of resentment for a denied declare.
The guide was not discovered on Mangione’s Goodreads account when accessed earlier than it was set to non-public Monday.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated at a press convention Monday that “He matches the outline of the identification we have been searching for” and that he’s “in possession of a number of gadgets that we consider will join him to this incident.”
Mangione was anticipated to be transferred to New York as early as Tuesday. He was initially arrested on pretend ID and illegal possession of a firearm prices.
Fox News’ Greg Norman, Brooke Curto, Julia Bonavita and Lillian LeCroy contributed to this report.
