Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, has been arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson outside the Hilton Midtown hotel on Dec. 4, in Manhattan. The suspect was taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday, after a McDonald’s employee recognized him from a photo released by the New York City Police Department.
Mangione reportedly started shaking when police in Altoona, approached him Monday, following a tip from the McDonald’s employee, court documents revealed. He was wearing a blue medical mask and was looking at a silver laptop computer when officers approached him at the fast-food chain.
Officers asked Mangione to pull down his mask, and immediately recognized him as the suspect wanted for Thompson's murder. Officers had seen photos of the suspect from media sources, court documents say.
Mangione gave officers a fake ID with the name Mark Rosario -- police ran the ID and determined it to be fake. Officers then asked Mangione why he lied.
He replied, "I clearly shouldn't have," according to court documents. Mangione was then placed into custody.
Officers found a black 3D-printed pistol and a black silencer in Mangione's backpack, the court documents say. The pistol had a metal slide and a plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel; and it had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds. Police said the silencer was also 3D printed.
According to police, Mangione, a self-described anti-capitalist, had a handwritten document, a manifesto, with him at the time of his arrest, which expressed “ill will toward corporate America.” The document stated, “these parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.” The 26-year-old leftist also declared that he had acted alone and self-funded his activities.
Mangione has been charged with firearms charges in Pennsylvania and is expected to be extradited to New York, where he will face additional charges in connection with Thompson’s murder.
The 26-year-old is charged with forgery, firearms not to be carried without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime and false identification to law enforcement authorities, according to a police criminal complaint. He appeared in court Monday night for a preliminary arraignment.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are reviewing Mangione’s online posts, including his favorable review of the Unabomber’s manifesto.
