Luigi Mangione booking photo.
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
New York prosecutors on Monday charged Ivy League veteran Luigi Mangione with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to court records.
The charges came hours after Mangione, 26, was arraigned in a Pennsylvania court on firearms and other charges related to his arrest earlier Monday. mcdonaldsin Altoona, Pennsylvania, after workers there told police they were acting suspiciously.
Mr. Mangione is Manhattan District Attorney’s Office He was charged Monday night in state court in Manhattan with second-degree murder, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a silencer and possession of a forged instrument, according to court records.
He is accused of fatally shooting Ms. Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan early Wednesday morning.
Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was on his way to an investor meeting. united health groupowns his company when he is shot by a masked gunman with a pistol that appears to have been fitted with a silencer.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the gunman waited for Thompson for several minutes before carrying out what she called a “pre-planned, targeted attack.”
The words “Delayed,” “Refused” and “Abandoned” were written on the shell casings found at the scene. The first two of these words are sometimes used to describe the tactics of health insurance companies, such as Thompson Insurance Company, to limit the amount of benefits paid to customers.
UnitedHealthcare is the largest private health insurance company in the United States, with annual revenues of more than $200 billion.
of United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations A report released in October found that UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and CVS “each denied prior authorization applications for post-acute care at a much higher rate than other types of care; “Access to post-acute care for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries has decreased.” . ”Medicare Advantage provides medical benefits under the federal Medicare program administered by private insurance companies.
Mangione, whose sister is a doctor, reportedly suffered from chronic back pain for many years. The profile of his account on social media account X includes an X-ray image of a person’s back with a screw stuck in it.
Thompson’s family held a private funeral in Minnesota early Monday morning as Mangione was taken into custody and questioned by Altoona police.
Police said they found that Mangione had a gun, a silencer and multiple 9mm rounds in his backpack when he confronted him at the McDonald’s.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson (left) and dignitary Luigi Mangione (right).
Source: UnitedHealthcare (L) | New York City Police Department (R)
Altoona police said when Mangione removed his mask at McDonald’s request, they immediately recognized him as the person New York authorities are looking for in connection with Thompson’s murder.
He was taken into custody after giving a police officer a fake New Jersey ID, believed to be the same one he used to check into a Manhattan hostel in late November.
Mangione, who comes from a wealthy Baltimore-area family, is being held without bail in a Pennsylvania prison on state charges related to possession of a firearm and false identification.
The suspect graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and at the time of his arrest was in possession of a handwritten manifesto that referred to the medical industry.
A photo of Luigi Mangione taken in jail Monday courtesy of the Altoona Police Department.
Altoona Police Department
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement after his arrest in Pennsylvania.
“We send Brian Thompson’s family our prayers and ask everyone to pray for everyone involved,” the statement said. “We are shocked by this news.”
Until Mangione’s arrest on Monday, New York police had been searching for a “person of interest” seen on surveillance footage walking back and forth from the scene of Thompson’s murder, but did not know his identity.
These images were widely publicized and were seen by the officers who arrested Mangione in Altoona.
Most of the images showed people wearing masks or gaiters over their faces. However, the two images showed a man believed to be Mangione staying at a hostel, where a female employee asked to see his face.
Authorities believe the gunman fled New York within hours of the shooting, possibly taking a bus from the Port Authority terminal in Washington Heights, north of Manhattan.
