'It does seem he does have some ill will toward corporate America,' NYPD chief detective said
A man was taken into police custody Monday in Pennsylvania in connection with last week's fatal shooting of a UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive outside a Manhattan hotel, according to New York City Police Department officials. He was later charged with murder in New York.
The murder last Wednesday of Brian Thompson - the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the health-insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group - sparked a police manhunt, along with a wide and fierce conversation across the country about healthcare coverage and denied claims.
Manhattan prosecutors late Monday filed murder and other charges against Luigi Mangione, 26, according to an online court docket. He remained jailed in Altoona, Pa., where he was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch had said Monday afternoon that Magione was "believed to be our person of interest."
Mangione was found with handwritten documents that could speak to his motivation, according to Tisch. Though the investigation is ongoing, "it does seem he does have some ill will toward corporate America," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a press conference.
Mangione appears to come from a life of privilege, with a private-school education and an Ivy League pedigree.
He graduated in 2016 from the Gilman School in Baltimore, according to media reports. Tuition at the all-boys school is approximately $38,000, according to its website.
"Luigi Mangione's suspected involvement in this case is deeply distressing news on top of an already awful situation. Our hearts go out to everyone affected. Here on campus, our focus will remain on caring for and educating our students," the Gilman School said in a statement.
Mangione later earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, according to his LinkedIn page. Those degrees were both in engineering, computer and information science, according to his profile.
Representatives of the Ivy League institution in Philadelphia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mangione's LinkedIn profile also said he worked as a data engineer at online car-buying platform TrueCar Inc. (TRUE) for approximately four years. A TrueCar spokesperson said that while the company generally does not comment on personnel matters, it could confirm Mangione last worked at the company in 2023.
UnitedHealth Group shares UNH closed Monday up 2.5% after trading around 10% lower in the wake of the attack.
Thompson, 50, was shot once in the back and once in the leg early Wednesday morning, before a scheduled speech at an investor event for shareholders in the insurer.
"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," a UnitedHealth Group spokesperson said Monday. "We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family's privacy as they mourn."
A McDonald's (MCD) employee in Altoona recognized Mangione in the widely publicized case and contacted authorities. Mangione is currently facing gun charges in Altoona, in central Pennsylvania, Kenny said, while Manhattan criminal charges were yet undetermined.
Mangione's possessions at the time of his apprehension included what appeared to be a "ghost gun" perhaps created with a 3D printer, Kenny said. The firearm was capable of firing 9-millimeter bullets, he noted, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
Police found the words "deny," "defend" and "depose" on bullet casings outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where Thompson was shot. That has led to speculation the words were an allusion to a 2010 book titled "Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It," by Jay M. Feinman, a Rutgers Law School professor who specializes in insurance law.
Mangione was found by authorities with a manifesto, according to the New York Post. "These parasites had it coming," Mangione reportedly wrote in the document, according to CNN, which cited an unnamed police official. "I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done," he added.
Nearly a year before his apprehension, he apparently gave a glowing Goodreads review to a book written by Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist known as the "Unabomber."
"It's easy to quickly and thoughtless to write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it's simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out," according to a review written by an account featuring Mangione's face.
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