Authorities arrest and charge suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing

Authorities detained and charged a man Monday in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a Maple Grove resident whose death has captivated the nation’s attention over the past week and set off an intense five-day manhunt.

The suspect was detained after being spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa. In a news conference Monday afternoon, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch identified the man as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

Late Monday, New York prosecutors filed murder and other charges against Mangione. In Pennsylvania, he was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.

Mangione was recognized by a McDonald’s employee who called Altoona police, Tisch said. The officers questioned Mangione and found he was carrying several fake IDs and a U.S. passport, the commissioner said. Upon further investigation, the officers found Mangione was carrying a gun and a firearm suppressor similar to the one used in the shooting, she added.

Mangione was “sitting and eating” in the McDonald’s on Monday morning when he was identified by the employee, said Joseph Kenny, chief of detectives with the New York Police Department.

The man was arrested on local charges and possibly with presenting a fake ID to police in Pennsylvania, a senior law enforcement official told the New York Times. It allegedly was the same fake identification the suspected gunman presented at a hostel in Manhattan before the killing, the source added.

Police also found a three-page handwritten document that allegedly spoke to the suspect’s motivation in the killing and his mindset. It appears that his manifesto did not target other individuals, Kenny said. He noted that the message conveyed the suspect had a dislike of corporate society.

”It does seem he has some ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said.

The recovered firearm was a 9mm “ghost gun,” which may have been made with a 3D printer, he said.

Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, Kenny said, and also has ties to San Francisco. Mangione’s last known address was Honolulu, Hawaii. Asked if Mangione worked with others in the killing, Kenny said, “we have no indication that took place.” However, he said that could still come out in the investigation.

“We have a strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city last week,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said during the news conference. “CEO Brian Thompson of UnitedHealthcare was the victim of a senseless act of violence.”

In a statement, UnitedHealth Group thanked authorities for the dogged police work.

“Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and we will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn.”

Here’s what else we know about the Dec. 4 shooting, the company and Thompson himself:

The shooter approached Thompson from behind and fired several times before he fled into an alley nearby and then hopped on an e-bike and rode north to Central Park, police said.

The day after Thompson’s death, Maple Grove police reported bomb threats against two homes the family owns in the city.

Investigators on Thursday released photos that partly revealed the face of a person of interest in the case. Over the weekend they released additional photos. Authorities found at least one bullet casing on the scene with the word “deny” on it, reviving criticism of a company and industry that became known for denying medical care claims. Amid the mounting manhunt, police also revealed a backpack they found in Central Park believed to have belonged to the shooter, which included Monopoly money.

Minnetonka-based Medica temporarily closed its headquarters Friday amid a “general feeling of vulnerability and concern” as insurers faced mounting online vitriol in the wake of Thompson’s killing. UnitedHealth Group’s note of remorse about Thompson’s killing has attracted more than 83,000 laughing emoji reactions on Facebook.

A spokesperson said the company’s offices will be closed through Dec. 13, citing safety concerns that sprang up following Wednesday’s shooting. Other insurers have taken similar steps to reduce the visibility of top executives.

Minneapolis-based UCare also closed its offices for the week.

“We received a concerning comment in a phone call and, out of an abundance of caution, will close our offices next week,” UCare said in a statement Saturday. “Employees will work from home as UCare takes every precaution to protect our team.”

Thompson’s killing has prompted companies, especially those in health care, across the country to step up security.

“It’s a wake-up call for a lot of companies,” said Glen Kucera, the New York-based president of Enhanced Protection Services, an arm of security company Allied Universal. “Unfortunately, it sometimes takes an event like this to impact change in the threat landscape.”

Thompson lived in Maple Grove. His wife, Paulette, works as a physical therapist with HealthPartners. They have two sons, 19 and 16.

Thompson worked at UnitedHealthcare for 20 years and was named its CEO in 2021. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported this year that Thompson was among the state’s top-paid executives with a total compensation of $9.1 million.

Both Thompson and his wife graduated from the University of Iowa, where he got a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1997. He graduated with special honors.

While Thompson wasn’t well known to his neighbors — one said he was “very quiet” and another said “no one really knew him” on the block — his killing shook co-workers and local business leaders. He was known as a champion for UnitedHealthcare’s support of the Special Olympics and an advocate for American Sign Language access across health care.

“Brian was a principled leader and a true champion in the healthcare community,” Roberta Antoine Dressen, CEO of local trade group Medical Alley, said in a statement.

UnitedHealthcare is the largest insurer in the U.S. It’s owned by Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group, which employs more than 400,000 people. It’s Minnesota’s 10th-largest employer — approximately 19,000 of its employees are stationed here.

The company has its roots in the development of the health maintenance organization model of health care pioneered by Dr. Paul Ellwood in the 1960s and ‘70s.

UnitedHealthcare has been criticized by media and elected officials because of the way the company reviews and denies requests and claims for medical care. The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations announced in October that UnitedHealthcare and two other major Medicare insurers inflated profits by denying seniors stays in care facilities while they recovered from injuries and illnesses.

The company went from denying 10.9% of cases in 2020 to 22.7% in 2022, according to a report from the subcommittee. Minnesota lawmakers barred UnitedHealthcare and other HMOs from the state’s Medicaid program earlier this year.

Staff writer Christopher Snowbeck and the Associated Press contributed to this story.