Police in Pennsylvania have apprehended a person of interest in the Midtown assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel last week, police confirmed on Monday.
Photos via X/Twitter and NYPD
The suspected Midtown assassin who allegedly executed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week started to shake inside of Pennsylvania McDonald’s restaurant when police asked him if he had been to New York recently, court documents revealed.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was arraigned in a Pennsylvania courtroom Monday evening on gun charges, during which more details about the high-profile arrest came to light.
According to a copy of the arraignment obtained by amNewYork Metro, officers from the Altoona Police Department were dispatched to the fast-food chain on East Plank Road at about 9:14 a.m. on Dec. 9 after a worker there recognized Mangione from photos disseminated by news outlets.
Mangione sat at a table in the back of the McDonald’s scrolling through a silver laptop with a backpack sitting on the floor beside him; he was also wearing a blue medical mask, on-the-record statements revealed.
A responding officer asked Mangione if he could see his face, to which the alleged killer obliged, yanking the mask down. Prosecutors said the cop immediately recognized Mangione and asked him for identification.
Mangione allegedly looked to throw police off his trail, however, by providing them with a fake New Jersey driver’s license with the name Mark Rosario.
While the officers ran the information through their dispatch center, one of them asked if he had been to New York recently. According to court statements, Mangione reportedly did not answer and started to shake.
As a lieutenant arrived on the scene, prosecutors said, the growing number of cops warned Mangione that he would be arrested if continued to lie to them about his identity. Seemingly backed into a corner, Mangione finally gave the cops his real name.
When asked why he lied to them he replied: “I clearly shouldn’t have.”
Mangione was handcuffed and searched. Inside his backpack, cops located a black 3D-printed pistol and a black 3D-printed silencer. The pistol had a metal slide, a plastic handle, and a metal threaded barrel. It had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds. There was also one loose nine-millimeter hollow point round in the bag.
Mangione has been charged with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime, and false identification to law enforcement.
NYPD sources say they are awaiting extradition proceedings before Mangione can be sent back to the Big Apple to face murder charges.
The arrest comes after an intense, five-day manhunt for the suspected assassin, who killed Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel on West 54th Street near 6th Avenue at about 6:45 a.m. on Dec. 4.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police believe Mangione allegedly arrived outside of the hotel just five minutes before Thompson, who was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting that morning.
Thompson was shot in the back and thigh and died at Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital. By all accounts, it appeared to be a targeted killing; Thompson’s assassin allegedly used a silencer, and shell casings recovered at the scene were found to have the words “Deny,” “Defend,” and “Depose” written on them in marker.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro dubbed the McDonald’s employee who recognized the gunman as a hero.
“I want to ask all of our fellow Pennsylvanians to demonstrate the same type of thoughtfulness, courage, and smartness as the individual at McDonald’s did this morning and help law enforcement here in Pennsylvania as we continue with our investigation,” Shapiro added.
