Person of interest in CEO killing 'born and raised' in Maryland, officials say

WASHINGTON - Authorities have taken a suspect into custody in connection to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to reports.

What we know

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference on Monday that authorities had detained a "strong person of interest" in the shooting of Thompson, who was stalked, shot and killed outside of a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday.

Officials have identified the man as Luigi Nicolas Mangione.

Sources told FOX 5 New York, the man was taken into custody for questioning at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, located nearly 300 miles outside of New York City in the south-central part of the state. 

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

Police said when they searched Mangione, they 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 that expressed "an ill-will towards corporate America," which is now in possession of Altoona police.

Meanwhile, authorities in New York continue to search Central Park in connection to the case. 

Who is Luigi Mangione?

Luigi Mangione was named by the NYPD as the man in custody in the CEO killing investigation.

Officials say he is 26 years old and was born and raised in Townson, Maryland. Mangione is the cousin of Maryland State Delegate Nino Mangione, FOX News confirmed. 

He's also said to have ties to San Francisco, California and Hawaii. 

Mangione was a 2016 graduate of the Gilman School in Baltimore. It’s a prestigious all-boys school in Baltimore. Two of Mangione's former Gilman classmates spoke with FOX 5 DC following the news of his arrest.  

One said Mangione went on to study at the University of Pennsylvania but it's not known if he graduated.

Corey Wey said Mangione was a smart, well-liked guy and really involved in clubs and a leader of the class. Online records confirm that Mangione was the valedictorian of his class.

Wey says he’d been following the case closely and when the now-famous photo was released of the suspect with no mask at a New York City hotel, he didn’t connect the dots but given today’s news, he says it makes more sense.

"I was like why do I recognize [him]? It was like my subconscious, it wasn’t my conscious," Wey said. "I didn’t put the pieces together and obviously you see a national story you’re not sitting there thinking ‘oh, it’s the kid I went to high school with’ but now that I have that information, I’m like, that’s why in the back of my head I was like ‘there’s something I recognized about this guy.'"

Wey says he was with a few friends a month ago and the group, which included people closer with Mangione than he was, said they hadn’t heard from him in a while.

Background

Thompson was shot and killed near W. 54th St. and 6th Avenue outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan around 6:45 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2024. Thompson was set to take part in the company's shareholder conference at the hotel.

Video shows the gunman firing shots from behind Thompson, striking him several times.

Authorities say the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" – a phrase critics use to describe insurance company tactics – were written on the ammo casings left behind at the scene. New York City police believe the shooting was premeditated and targeted.

Over the weekend, police released a new batch of photos showing the masked gunman riding in a cab.

The award for information leading to an arrest has also risen to $50,000.

On Friday, police reportedly found a distinctive backpack that the gunman was wearing. Inside, they found a jacket and Monopoly money. According to reports, investigators were also testing a discarded water bottle and protein bar wrapper for DNA.

Timeline of events

Here's a timeline of events:

Nov. 24:

• 10:11 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 24: The suspected shooter arrives in New York City on a Greyhound bus at the Port Authority terminal on a bus that originated in Atlanta, Georgia. The bus 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 took a taxi to the area of New York Hilton Midtown and is there for about a half-hour.
• About 11 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 24: 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.

Nov. 29:

• 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.

Dec. 4:

• About 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 4: The suspected shooter leaves the hostel well before dawn.
• 5:41 a.m. on Dec. 4: 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," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph 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. on Dec. 4: 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. on Dec. 4: 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. on Dec. 4: He leaves the park at West 77th Street and Central Park West, still on the bicycle.
• 6:58 a.m. on Dec. 4: He passes another camera on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue, still on the bicycle.
• 7 a.m. on Dec. 4: He's at 86th Street, no longer with the bicycle.
• 7:04 a.m. on Dec. 4: He enters a taxi northbound at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
• 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 4: 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.

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.

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.

Dec. 8:

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

Dec. 9:

Police question a man in Pennsylvania in connection to a gun that matches the gun used in the shooting. 

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