Luigi Mangione: 'Person of interest' arrested in CEO murder case

Police in Pennsylvania have arrested a 26-year-old man in connection with last week's murder in New York City of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The "strong person of interest" is Luigi Mangione, 26, who was found in possession of a handwritten document that indicated the suspect's "motivation and mindset", said police.

Mr Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald's in the town of Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 280 miles (450km) west of New York City.

Police said he had a "ghost gun" that was probably manufactured using a 3D printer and was capable of firing 9mm rounds. He also had a suppressor, also known as a silencer.

Authorities said they have not yet charged Mr Mangione in connection with the shooting, although he is facing weapons charges in Pennsylvania.

Investigators had used surveillance photos, bullet casings with cryptic messages written on them, and the suspect's movements in an effort to track him.

They also worked with the FBI and authorities in other states, but it appears a fast food restaurant employee's tip-off may have ultimately led to this arrest.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described Mr Mangione at a press conference on Monday as a "suspect".

She said the seized weapon and the suppressor - a device fitted to a firearm's muzzle to reduce the noise of a gunshot - were "both consistent with the weapon used in the murder".

She added that an employee at the McDonald's in Altoona had called police to report Mr Mangione because he was acting suspiciously.

A three-page handwritten document found on Mr Mangione's possession suggested he harboured "ill will towards corporate America", said New York Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

Police said that Mr Mangione had a US passport and a mask "consistent" with the one worn by the suspect in the New York shooting.

They said they also found he had a fraudulent New Jersey ID that they said was used to check into a hostel in New York City, where the suspect was spotted before the shooting.

An image of the ID obtained by CBS shows that it includes a different name and an address in the town of Maplewood, New Jersey.

Mr Kenny said that Mr Mangione was born and raised in Maryland and has ties to San Francisco, California. Authorities believe he may have attended university in Pennsylvania, but his last known address was in Honolulu, Hawaii.

TrueCar, a website for car buyers, confirmed that he had been employed there but left in 2023.

As a teenager, he attended a private all-boys school in Maryland, where he was class valedictorian.

A LinkedIn account that appears to belong to Mr Mangione says he worked as a data engineer in California, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a teaching assistant and founded a video game development club.

Several posts to an account on X, formerly Twitter, that appeared to belong to him suggested that friends were attempting to reach him, with one person posting in October that "nobody has heard from you in months".

If Mr Mangione is confirmed as the New York shooting suspect, he is unlikely to be immediately returned to the state until a formal extradition proceeding is carried out, CBS reports.

Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in the back last Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare, the medical insurance giant he led, was holding an investors' meeting.

Police say Thompson was targeted in a pre-planned killing.

The words "deny", "defend" and "depose" were written on shell casings found at the scene.

Investigators believe they could be a reference to what critics call the "three Ds of insurance" - tactics used by insurance companies to reject payment claims by patients in America's complicated and mostly privately run healthcare system.

UnitedHealthcare has been criticised for how often it denies its customers' claims.

It was previously reported that the suspect left New York City by bus, and police were dispatched to Georgia to search for the man seen on surveillance video.

Authorities put together an incomplete timeline of his movements in the city, from his arrival on 24 November to the moments that followed the attack on 4 December.

The man stayed at a hostel in New York and visited a Starbucks before the shooting on Wednesday.

The New York Police Department said the suspect's weapon appeared to jam, but that he was able to quickly fix it and continue firing.

After shooting Thompson the suspect fled into Central Park, before taking a cab to a nearby bus station, authorities said.

The New York Police Department searched Central Park over the weekend and located a backpack they believe belonged to the suspect. It contained a jacket and fake money from the board game Monopoly.

NYPD divers again searched the park's lake on Sunday, a day after a similar search yielded nothing of interest in the investigation.

On Friday, the FBI offered a $50,000 (£39,200) reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.