Police are questioning 26-year-old Luigi Mangione of Altoona, Pennsylvania, as a person of interest in connection with the brazen killing in Midtown Manhattan of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week, according to authorities.
Mangione, of Maryland, has been arrested by Altoona police on unrelated weapons charges, according to authorities.
He was on a Greyhound bus traveling through Altoona Monday morning, sources said, when he got off and walked into a McDonald’s, where a witness recognized him from photos of the suspect circulated by police.
Mangione was eating when a McDonald’s employee reported him, and “because of that, we believe we have a strong person of interest,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Monday.
“He matches the description of the person we’re looking for,” Adams said.
An undated NYPD handout photo obtained by Reuters on Dec. 5, 2024 shows a person wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of UnitedHeatlhcare CEO Brian Thompson at an undisclosed location.
Nypd/via Reuters
Mangione had a ghost gun capable of firing a 9mm round and a suppressor, police said.
Mangione was in possession of a handwritten document “that speaks to his motivation and mindset,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
“It appears he had ill will toward corporate America,” police said.
A New York police officer stands outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on Dec. 4, 2024, in New York.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP
The authorities are reviewing his writings more thoroughly to understand his motive.
He was also in possession of a fake New Jersey driver’s license similar to the one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, she said.
Tisch praised the NYPD’s “good old fashioned detective work” and “the power of the public” that led to the arrest.
The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying this person wanted for questioning in the midtown Manhattan murder of a CEO on December 4, 2024.
NYPD
Police said it appears he acted alone.
Police said they are working to trace his movements from New York City to Pennsylvania.
Police said they did not have his name until now.
A New York City police officer walks through brush and foliage in Central Park near 64th Street and Central Park West in New York, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
Meanwhile, new video obtained by ABC News shows the killer waiting for Thompson moments before the shooting.
The video shows others walking by and then, when the masked gunman sees Thompson, he runs across the street and opens fire. The video, which has not previously been seen publicly, appears to support the police narrative that the shooter targeted Thompson because he was loitering as others wandered by.
Police place bullet casings outside a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan where United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on December 4, 2024 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
On Wednesday morning, the masked gunman shot Thompson at point-blank range outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where Thompson’s company was holding an investor conference. Tisch described the attack as “shameful” and “targeted”.
This undated photo provided by UnitedHealth Group shows UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
UnitedHealth Group via AP
Immediately after the shooting, the suspect fled on a bicycle through Central Park to the Upper West Side. He then took a cab to the Port Authority bus terminal on 178th Street and boarded a bus out of New York City, according to police.
Thompson, CEO of the major insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead at point-blank range in Midtown Manhattan on December 4, 2024.
ABC News
On Sunday, members of the New York Police Department’s dive team searched underwater in Central Park near the Bethesda Fountain.
Divers from the New York Police Department search a body of water in Manhattan’s Central Park on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024.
WABC
The suspect’s backpack — with a jacket and Monopoly money inside — was found nearby in Central Park.
A backpack found by police in Central Park during the investigation into the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 6, 2024.
Obtained by ABC News
This is a development story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson, Jon Haworth, Ivan Pereira and David Brennan contributed to this report.
