He was quizzed by police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after being found with a distinctive weapon like that used in the brazen shooting of Brian Thompson, NBC News and others reported. The man was spotted in a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, a town 300 miles (500 kilometers) west of New York, by someone who tipped off the authorities, The New York Times reported. He also had fake IDs similar to those used by the killer ahead of the slaying, the outlet added, reporting that New York detectives were headed to Altoona.
Police have been looking into the possibility that the shooter used a long-barrel veterinary gun -- normally used to euthanize animals -- to commit the murder. The gunman walked up behind Thompson, a senior figure at UnitedHealthcare -- one of the country's largest medical insurers -- and shot him dead last Wednesday in front of bystanders, in an attack captured by a surveillance camera and since seen by millions. Thompson was attending an investor conference in the Midtown business district.
Police have yet to suggest a motive and would not confirm media reports that the words "delay" and "deny" -- language often used by insurance companies to reject claims -- were written on shell casings found at the scene.
The New York Police Department told AFP that detectives had no update for the media, while the Altoona Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. An image released of the smiling suspect was obtained from a youth hostel where the gunman apparently stayed before the hit, with media reporting he had lowered his mask to flirt with a receptionist.
Update 20241210-0
The suspect in the high-profile killing of a health insurance CEO that has gripped the United States graduated from an Ivy League university, reportedly hails from a wealthy family, and wrote social media posts brimming with cerebral musings.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was thrust into the spotlight Monday after police revealed he is their person of interest in the brutal murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson
While some lauded him as a hero and lamented his arrest, others analyzed his intellectual takes in search of ideological clues. A photo on one of his social media accounts includes an X-ray of an apparently injured spine. No explicit political affiliation has emerged.
According to Mangione's LinkedIn profile, he is employed as a data engineer at TrueCar, a California-based online auto marketplace. A company spokesperson told AFP Mangione "has not been an employee of our company since 2023." Although he had been living in Hawaii ahead of the killing, he originally hails from Towson, Maryland, near Baltimore. He comes from a prominent and wealthy Italian-American family, according to the Baltimore Banner. The family owns local businesses, including the Hayfields Country Club, its website says.
A standout student, Mangione graduated at the top of his high school class in 2016. In an interview with his local paper at the time, he praised his teachers for fostering a passion for learning beyond grades and encouraging intellectual curiosity. A former student who knew Mangione at the Gilman School told AFP the suspect struck him as "a normal guy, nice kid." "There was nothing about him that was off, at least from my perception," this person said, asking that their name not be used. "Seemed to just be smiling, and kind of seemed like he was a smart kid. Ended up being valedictorian, which confirmed that," the former student said.
Mangione went on to attend the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he completed both a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science by 2020, according to a university spokesperson. While at Penn, Mangione co-led a group of 60 undergraduates who collaborated on video game projects, as noted in a now-deleted university webpage, archived on the Wayback Machine.
On Instagram, where his following has skyrocketed from hundreds to tens of thousands, Mangione shared snapshots of his travels in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. He also posted shirtless photos flaunting a six-pack and appeared in celebratory posts with fellow members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. However, it is on X (formerly Twitter) that users have scoured Mangione's posts for potential motives. His header photo -- an X-ray of a spine with bolts -- remains cryptic, with no public explanation.
Finding a coherent political ideology has also proved elusive, though he had written a review of Ted Kaczynski's manifesto on the online site goodreads, calling it "prescient." Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, carried out a string of bombings in the United States from 1978 to 1995, a campaign he said was aimed at halting the advance of modern society and technology. Mangione called Kaczynski "rightfully imprisoned," while also saying "'violence never solved anything' is a statement uttered by cowards and predators."
According to CNN, handwritten documents recovered when Mangione was arrested included the phrase "these parasites had it coming." Mangione has also linked approvingly to posts criticizing secularism as a harmful consequence of Christianity's decline.
In April, he wrote, "Horror vacui (nature abhors a vacuum)." The following month, he posted an essay he wrote in high school titled "How Christianity Prospered by Appealing to the Lower Classes of Ancient Rome." In another post from April, he speculated that Japan's low birthrate stems from societal disconnection,
Update 20241210-1
The revelation of a manifesto carried by Mangione appears to back up the theory that he was angered by the complex and at times dysfunctional US health care system.
"I had an opportunity to read the manifesto," the New York Police Department's Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said on the Good Morning America TV show. "It's handwritten. He does make some indication that he's frustrated with the health care system in the United States."
Kenny said Mangione decried how the US health care system is among the most expensive in the world and yet the country has a lower life expectancy than other developed nations. "He was writing a lot about his disdain for corporate American and in particular the health care industry," said Kenny.
The New York criminal complaint alleges Mangione was found with "written admissions about the crime" but contains no further detail.