Luigi Mangione named as man in custody in CEO killing ...

Updated  December 9, 2024 1:09pm EST

NEW YORK CITY - Luigi Mangione was named by the NYPD as the man in custody in the CEO killing investigation.

At a Monday press conference, police confirmed that Mangione was taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, located nearly 300 miles outside of New York City. He is being questioned in the ambush of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was stalked, shot and killed outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said a McDonald's employee saw Mangione eating and noticed similarities between him and the alleged gunman.

Police said he was found with a "ghost gun," a silencer, fake IDs, including a New Jersey fake license that may have been used to check into an Upper West Side hostel. He was also found with a manifesto, Kenny said, which is now in possession of Altoona police.

Authorities also said Mangione has ties to Maryland, California and Hawaii, and seems to have an "ill will toward corporate America." 

Authorities believe he went to college in Pennsylvania. A man with the same name was listed as the valedictorian in the 2016 class at a Baltimore private school.

Who is Brian Thompson?

Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to UnitedHealthcare’s website. He lived in Minnesota, where the company is based.  

Before that, he was CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s government programs business including Medicare & Retirement and Community & State. 

He’d worked at UnitedHealth Group since 2004 and served in multiple leadership roles.

Before he joined UnitedHealth Group, Thompson was a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He was valedictorian of his class at the University of Iowa, according to Thompson's LinkedIn profile. 

UnitedHealthcare is ranked fifth on the Fortune 500 and employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. It’s the largest private health insurer in the US, according to CNBC, providing health insurance for more than 49 million people in the United States. Its Optum segment also provides care, runs one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits management businesses and offers technology services.

Timeline of events Sunday, Nov. 24 10:11 p.m. — The suspected shooter arrives in New York City on a Greyhound bus at the Port Authority terminal. The bus originated in Atlanta and made six or seven stops on the way to New York. Police could not immediately determine where he got on the bus.

The man then takes a taxi to the area of the New York Hilton Midtown and is there for about a half hour.

About 11 p.m. — The man takes a taxi to the HI New York City Hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave., where he stays until the morning of the shooting. He presents an ID that police believe to be fake. Two roommates in a shared room that had bunkbeds never saw his face, police said, because he kept his mask on.

When speaking with an employee in the hostel lobby, he briefly pulled down his facemask and smiled — a moment captured on surveillance images that have been widely circulated by police.

Friday, Nov. 29

The man was checked out of the hostel, where guests are automatically checked out if they don’t show at the desk by a certain time. Police don’t believe he stayed someplace else and checked back into the same hostel the next day.

Wednesday, Dec. 4 About 5:30 a.m. — The suspected shooter leaves the hostel well before dawn.5:41 a.m. — He appears on video at 54th Street and Sixth Avenue walking back and forth in the area of the Hilton hotel where United Healthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is holding its annual investor conference.

Police deduce that he rode a bicycle to the Hilton because it took him such a short time to get there. "Could he have stolen the bike? These are things we’re still looking into," Kenny said.

At some point, he went to a nearby Starbucks and purchased a bottle of water and at least one energy bar before returning to the hotel.

6:44 a.m. — He shoots Thompson as the executive arrives alone, on foot, having walked from a hotel across the street. The man flees. 6:48 a.m. — The man enters Central Park by bicycle at the 60th Street and Center Drive entrance. It's in the park and away from security cameras that police believe he discarded a gray backpack. 6:56 a.m. — He leaves the park at West 77th Street and Central Park West, still on the bicycle.6:58 a.m. — He passes another camera on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue, still on the bicycle.7 a.m. — He's at 86th Street, no longer with the bicycle.7:04 a.m. — He enters a taxi northbound at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.7:30 a.m. — He's near the George Washington Bridge and the bus terminal there. It offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington.

After the attack, investigators find the words "deny," "defend" and "depose," written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.

Friday, Dec. 6

Kenny and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch reveal that investigators believe the gunman left New York City on a bus. Investigators say he entered the George Washington Bridge Bus Station but have not found video of him leaving or getting on a bus.

"It could possibly be a disgruntled employee, or a disgruntled client," Kenny says of a possible motive in a briefing.

Police found what they said was the man's backpack. Its contents are not disclosed.

Saturday, Dec. 7

Police continue to search Central Park; scuba divers are seen scouring a pond. The NYPD releases additional photos showing the suspected shooter next to and in the back seat of a taxi. In both images, he is seen wearing a blue, medical-style face mask.

Despite recovering a fingerprint from the Starbucks purchase and sending items for DNA testing, police have yet to publicly identify the suspect.

Sunday, Dec. 8

Scuba divers are again seen at a Central Park pond. Police declined to comment on the investigation.