Suspect charged in homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC
Suspect charged in homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC
04:56
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione, the suspect within the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outdoors a New York Metropolis resort, is now charged with homicide, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
The New York Metropolis Police Division and Mayor Eric Adams introduced on Monday the 26-year-old was taken into custody earlier within the day on forgery and unlawful gun costs in Pennsylvania. On the time, he was nonetheless thought-about an individual of curiosity within the case.
“He matches the outline of the identification we have been searching for. He is additionally in possession of a number of gadgets that we consider will join him to this incident,” Adams mentioned Monday. “How did we do it? Good quaint police work.”
The homicide cost begins the extradition course of again to New York that would take days or even weeks. Police consider Mangione had been touring round Pennsylvania within the days after Thompson was killed, from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to Altoona, the place he was acknowledged earlier Monday at a McDonald’s restaurant.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned a tipster known as police after seeing a person who seemed just like the suspect at a McDonald’s.
“The suspect was in a McDonald’s and was acknowledged by an worker who then known as native police. Responding officers questioned the suspect, who was performing suspiciously and was carrying a number of fraudulent IDs, in addition to a U.S. passport,” she mentioned. “Upon additional investigation, officers recovered a firearm on his particular person, in addition to a suppressor, each in keeping with the weapon used within the homicide. In addition they recovered clothes, together with a masks, in keeping with these worn by our wished particular person.
“Moreover, officers recovered a handwritten doc that speaks to each his motivation and mindset,” Tisch added.
NYPD officers described the weapon as a potential “ghost gun,” and mentioned the written doc was three pages lengthy.
Tisch mentioned Mangione was additionally present in possession of the identical pretend New Jersey ID the particular person of curiosity used to examine right into a hostel on Manhattan’s Higher West Aspect, the place he was seen in surveillance photos with out a masks. He was later seen on the Port Authority bus terminal in Washington Heights and was believed to have boarded a bus there after the taking pictures.
UnitedHealthcare CEO shot and killed in Manhattan
Crime Scene Unit police {photograph} the scene the place CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson, 50, was shot as he entered the New York Hilton early on Dec. 4, 2024 in Manhattan.
BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP through Getty Photographs/United Well being Group
Thompson, 50, was gunned down by a masked shooter on Dec. 4 outdoors the Hilton Midtown resort, the place UnitedHealthcare was set to carry its annual traders convention.
The NYPD known as it a “premeditated, preplanned, focused assault,” and launched an intense manhunt. Police supplied a $10,000 reward for info resulting in an arrest, and the FBI later upped the ante to $50,000.
Investigators shortly started piecing collectively a timeline of the taking pictures, together with the suspect’s actions and escape route. The subsequent day, police launched photos of an individual wished for questioning, as they zeroed in on the hostel the place he was staying.
Surveillance images present an individual who police mentioned they need to query in reference to the deadly taking pictures of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outdoors a resort in Midtown Manhattan.
NYPD
Police had quite a few clues early on within the investigation. They have been capable of hint the suspect’s actions previous to the taking pictures and his escape by bicycle by Central Park.
Investigators spent days looking the park and located a backpack containing a jacket and Monopoly cash, however it didn’t have the homicide weapon. Dive groups in scuba gear continued to comb a pond close to the park’s Bethesda Fountain for the gun.
A backpack present in New York Metropolis’s Central Park on Dec. 6, 2024, that investigators consider might have belonged to the suspected gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
CBS Information
Police additionally discovered expended shells on the scene that had “delay” and “deny” meticulously written on them. Investigators consider these phrases have been associated to a reference made by critics of the medical health insurance trade.
Officers additionally recovered a cellphone from the scene, in addition to a water bottle and a sweet bar wrapper they consider the suspect left at a Starbucks previous to the taking pictures.
In the meantime, investigators have been probing each facet of Thompson’s life to attempt to discover a motive.
“They are going to have a look at the enterprise finish, you’ve an organization that is laid folks off. They are going to have a look at the private tales, and they will deal with letters, determined individuals who have been denied care or exams or one thing that would’ve saved a life or who blame the corporate,” mentioned former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller.
Thompson, a married father of two, had been in New York Metropolis for 2 days earlier than he was murdered. His spouse, Paulette, spoke in regards to the household’s loss.
“Brian was a beautiful particular person with a giant coronary heart and who lived life to the fullest,” she mentioned. “He will probably be tremendously missed by all people. Our hearts are damaged and we’re utterly devastated by this information.”
Test again quickly for the newest updates on this creating story.
Pat Milton
contributed to this report.
Extra from CBS Information
Jesse Zanger