A “strong person of interest” in possession of a gun and multiple fake IDs was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, officials said.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona on weapons charges, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters.
He was found with a gun similar to the one used in the shooting of Thompson last week and had a fake ID with the same name the suspected gunman used at a New York City hostel, police said.
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“Additionally, officers recovered a handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” Tisch said.
The person being questioned was at a McDonald’s in Altoona, where an employee thought he looked suspicious and called police, officials said.
Mangione, who was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and had a last known address in Hawaii, officials said. He has no previous arrests.
“We believe we have a strong person of interest,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said.
The document speaking to a motive came in the form of three handwritten pages, evidence that is now with Altoona police, New York City officials said.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the man in custody named Thompson in the writings.
Investigators are also looking at Mangione’s online posts about domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
Kaczynski, whose bombs killed three people, long decried the ills of modern American life and harbored other antiestablishment views.
“We don’t think that there’s any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “But it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America.”
The man in custody also had a weapon that might have been homemade and thus off the radar of any law enforcement or government agency.
“The information we’re getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun and may have been made on a 3D printer,” Kenny said.
“He was in possession of a ghost gun that had the capability of firing 9 mm round and a suppressor,” he said.
Police said the public’s help played a key role in making the arrest.
“There’s numerous linchpins in this case,” Kenny said. “We’ve recovered an enormous amount of forensic evidence, an enormous amount of video, and once again, with your help, the public’s help.”
Police found clothes matching the suspected gunman’s and a fake ID used at a New York City hostel, the commissioner said.
The name on a fraudulent New Jersey driver’s license was for a 26-year-old Maplewood resident listed as “Mark Rosario,” according to an image of the phony ID obtained by NBC New York.
That name matches the one Thompson’s alleged killer used to check into a New York hostel days before the attack, multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News.
The man in custody had “multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport,” Tisch said. But police don’t believe he was plotting an international escape.
“We don’t believe that he was planning on doing any traveling at this time,” Kenny said. “We don’t think he was trying to flee the country.”
Thompson was killed in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, about 280 miles from Altoona, by a masked assailant who approached from behind.
Other pedestrians had walked past the gunman before he shot Thompson, leading police to believe Thompson was the shooter’s only intended target.
The shooter opened fire around 6:45 a.m., security video showed, before he ran away and then fled on a bike into Central Park, authorities said. The last video of the alleged gunman put him at a bus depot in upper Manhattan, police said.
Three pieces of ammunition were recovered with the words “deny,” “delay” and “depose” written on them in marker, one on each, police said.
The FBI has posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman — in addition to the combined $10,000 offered by Crime Stoppers and New York police.
“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 UnitedHealthcare representative said Monday. “We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation.”
Thompson’s death sent shock waves throughout the corporate and health care worlds, raising questions about appropriate security for top-level executives.
The shooting also exposed a deep, ugly resentment against private health care companies as social media feeds were flooded with posts celebrating — or at least seeking to justify — Thompson’s slaying.
Thompson, who lived in Minnesota, had recently received threats but hadn’t altered his travel routine, said his wife, Paulette Thompson.
He wasn’t with a security detail when he was shot.
“Yes, there had been some threats,” Paulette Thompson said hours after the attack. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
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