According to online court documents, the man who is suspected of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week outside a crowded hotel in New York City was charged with murder on Monday night.
Luigi Mangione, 26, showed up for a preliminary arraignment in Pennsylvania, where he was detained earlier in the day at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, just hours before the murder and weapons charges were filed in New York. There, he was accused of three misdemeanors: tampering with documents or identification, possessing tools of crime, and giving false identification to police authorities, in addition to two felonies: forgery and carrying a handgun without a license.
Following the court hearing in Pennsylvania, law enforcement officials informed media that charges would soon be brought in New York.
For live coverage, click this link.
Mangione has been charged with one crime of murder, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of possession of a forged instrument, according to court documents posted online Monday night.
A request for comment Monday night was not immediately answered by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
For days, police had been searching for the alleged shooter in Thompson’s murder, sharing images and footage of the perpetrator of the CEO’s targeted assault.
Police said they found a revolver identical to the one used in the deadly shooting after a McDonald’s employee alerted them on Monday about a suspicious individual in the Altoona restaurant.
According to authorities, Mangione also had a phony ID that bore the same name as the one the alleged shooter used at a hostel in New York City. According to investigators, a pistol silencer was also discovered.
On Monday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that investigators had discovered a handwritten memo that “speaks to both his motivation and mindset.”
Mangione seemed to have “ill will toward corporate America,” according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, although police did not elaborate on a potential motive.
Around 6:45 a.m., Thompson, 50, was traveling to the New York Hilton Midtown for UnitedHealth Group’s investor meeting when a masked shooter came up behind him and started shooting. Security footage of the shooting was released on Wednesday.
Police assumed Thompson was the shooter’s sole target because other people had passed by before he shot Thompson.
Thompson was declared dead at Mount Sinai West after being shot in the leg and the back.
According to investigators, the shooter escaped into Central Park on foot and later on a bike.
Police classified Thompson’s death as a deliberate, preplanned targeted attack within hours of the shooting.
A cellphone was discovered close by, along with three live 9 mm rounds and three discharged 9 mm round casings.
Three pieces of recovered ammunition had the words deny, delay and depose written on them in marker, one on each, police said.
According to his wife, Paulette Thompson, Thompson, who lived in Minnesota, had received threats recently but had not changed his travel schedule.
At the time of the incident, he was not accompanied by a security detail.
Hours after the assault, Paulette Thompson admitted to NBC News that there had been some threats. Basically, a lack of coverage, I guess? Details are unknown to me. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.
Police believe the gunman arrived inNew York City on Nov. 24 by Greyhound busfrom Atlanta and stayed at a hostel on the Upper West Side, where he rarely took off or pulled down his mask.
He paid in cash and is thought to have used fake identification to stay at the hostel, police said.
After the shooting, policescoured the city for evidence, including the weapon. Officials also releasedmultiple photosof a person of interest in hope of uncovering the man’s identity.
Mangione graduated with multiple degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2020 and received a BS in engineering and a master of science engineering degree, according to officials with the Ivy League school. Public records and his social media profiles indicate he has lived in Philadelphia and Hawaii and has worked for the University of Pennsylvania.
Mangione attended the private, all-boys Gilman School in Baltimore in high school. He graduated in 2016, the school confirmed.
Thompson’s slaying sent shock waves throughout the corporate and health care worlds, raising questions about appropriate security for top-level executives.
UnitedHealth Group did not regularly employ personal security service for executives, according to the company’stwomost recentproxy statements. Companies have toreport security expensesof more than $10,000 annually for directors or corporate officers.
HumanaandCigna, two other major health care giants, both said in their most recent proxy statements that they provide personal security to executives. Those records, though, did not reveal which executives received protection or how much was being spent.
Another major player in health insurance, CVS Health, requires its CEO to use corporate aircraft and a corporate driver as part of a disclosed executive security program,according to regulatory filings.
Theshooting also uneartheda dark, angry American viewpoint on private health providers, with many social media users celebrating Thompson’s death or making possible excuses for his killing.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!