Dec. 9 (UPI) — A man in north-central Pennsylvania is being questioned in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, officials confirmed Monday.
In Altoona, police say Luigi Mangione was spotted with a similar gun to the one used by a masked assailant last Wednesday to kill Thompson, 50, who was shot and killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan.
Officials say a McDonald’s restaurant employee thought the person resembled the man in photos provided by the New York Police Department.
The person of interest was at a McDonalds in the Blair County town less than an hour south of Penn State University in State College, roughly 100 miles east of Pittsburgh and less than 300 miles from New York City. CNN confirmed the suspect is age 26.
Restaurant customers say the individual looked suspicious and then called police, according to NBC News. He was later found to have a fake New Jersey ID, a silencer and a gun that was similar to the one used to kill Thompson.
Authorities believe one of the fake identification cards was used by the alleged killer. He also had a two-page document that railed against the healthcare industry going so far as to suggest violence.
Meanwhile, the NYPD is reportedly sending detectives to Altoona to aid the investigation, according to ABC.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect, whose name has not yet been released. The shooting suspect in question was described as about 6’1″ tall and skinny and was dressed in all black.
According to police, the alleged gunman had been waiting outside for Thompson where he was shot at point-blank-range before 7 a.m. last Wednesday morning before then fleeing the scene on bike.
Thompson’s death sparked conversations over the protection of corporate leaders and exposed an ugly and deep resentment by the American public against health care companies.
Thompson became CEO at UnitedHealth Group in 2021 and the company is ranked fifth in the Fortune 500. The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were inscribed on the ammo, which are words typically used to characterize tactics used by insurers to avoid paying medical claims.
UPI reached out to the Pennsylvania State Police for further information but they declined to comment, saying a review of information is ongoing.
