Who is Luigi Mangione? The 'strong person of interest' in CEO killing

Police in Pennsylvania have arrested a man in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, with officials saying Luigi Mangione is a “strong person of interest” in the case.

Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday in what police said was a “brazen, targeted” attack as he walked alone to the Hilton from a nearby hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference.

The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, according to police. He used a 9 mm pistol that police said resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise.

Here’s what police have said so far about Mangione.

According to Joseph Kenny, chief of detectives with the New York Police Department, Luigi Mangione is a 26-year-old man who was born and raised in Maryland, with ties to San Francisco and Honolulu.

Police said it’s believed he also may have attended college in Pennsylvania.

The 26-year-old reportedly has no prior arrest history in New York and prior to the release of his name on Monday, he was not known to the city’s police nor was his name found in any other U.S. arrests.

Police recovered a three-page handwritten document, which they said “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” that is currently in possession of the Altoona police department in Pennsylvania.

“From briefly speaking with them (Altoona police,) we don’t think that there’s any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America over here,” Kenny told reporters on Monday.

According to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the 26-year-old was recognized by an employee of a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., who then called local police.

They then questioned Mangione, who reportedly was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs and a U.S. passport.

Despite the possession of a passport, Kenny said they do not believe the suspect was planning on doing any travelling or trying to flee the country.

Tisch said one of the ID cards matched the ID used by an individual police described as a suspect last week to check into a hostel in Manhattan before the shooting.

Kenny said police then recovered a firearm on Mangione on further investigation — a ghost gun that could fire a 9 mm round and was possibly made on a 3D printer.

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They said a suppressor, also known as a silencer, was also found. Both the gun and suppressor were said to be consistent with the weapon used in the shooting.

“Upon further investigation, officers recovered a firearm on his person as well as a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” Tisch said. “They also recovered clothing, including a mask consisting with those worn by our wanted individual.”

In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of photos and video — including footage of the attack, as well as images of an individual described by NYPD as a person of interest at a Starbucks beforehand.

According to Kenny, Mangione will be facing gun charges in Altoona but working with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, law enforcement will work to extradite the man to New York.

At this time, Kenny said Mangione is believed to have allegedly acted alone but they are still working on their investigation.

On Friday, police found a backpack in the park that they say the killer in the case discarded as he fled from the crime scene to an uptown bus station, where they believe he left the city on a bus.

On Monday, K-9 units sniffed leaf-covered planters between walking paths in Central Park near where police found the shooter’s backpack.

Farther along the path on which police suspect the shooter in the case took off through the park after the shooting, scuba divers geared up and started searching a pond for the third straight day.

Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter fled into Central Park on a bicycle, emerged from the park without his backpack and then ditched the bicycle.

He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, Kenny said.

—with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and The Associated Press