Murder in New York of Brian Thompson: suspect arrested

A 26-year-old American was arrested Monday after five days of tracking in the investigation into the “targeted” assassination of the boss of a health insurance giant on Wednesday in New York, authorities announced, seeking to establish his possible motive.

“Members of the Altoona police,” 500 km west of New York, “arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old man, for possession of firearms. At this time, we believe this is the person we are looking for in the targeted and unscrupulous killing of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare,” said Jessica Tisch, the head of the New York Police Department. during a press briefing alongside Mayor Eric Adams.

The suspect, whose several photos captured by video surveillance cameras before and after the murder had been released since Wednesday, was recognized by an employee of a McDonald’s in Altoona who contacted the local police, added Jessica Tisch.

American media images showed the young man, with curly black hair, leaving a police vehicle handcuffed to be escorted to a Pennsylvania state court, where he was charged with, among other things, illegal possession of a weapon and criminal instruments, false documents and providing false identification to authorities.

A judge then kept him in custody pending his transfer to the New York courts for his possible indictment for the murder of Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione was presented by police as a native of Maryland (northeast), whose last known address was in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2020, he obtained a master’s degree in engineering sciences from the prestigious private University of Pennsylvania (U Penn), after attending a posh high school in Baltimore.

According to the “Baltimore Banner,” he comes from a wealthy Italian-American family, with a grandfather, who died in 2008, a real estate developer and owner of country clubs, retirement homes and a local radio station. . On him, the police found a kit firearm, “which could have been made by a 3D printer”, and a silencer, similar to those used by the killer.

Luigi Mangione also carried a fake New Jersey ID card “matching the identity used to check into a New York hotel” before the attack, as well as a three-page handwritten document describing his “hostility to against American companies,” police said.

But the authorities have not commented further on the possible motives for the assassination. According to American media, the words “delay” and “deny” – terms referring to rejections of health care claims by insurance companies – were written on the shell casings found at the crime scene .

Investigators are also questioning a medical X-ray photo posted on the suspect’s profile on the social network X, which was suspended Monday after the arrest. The death of Brian Thompson, in this premeditated assassination in the middle of the street, caused great emotion, but it was also accompanied by hateful comments on social networks against American health insurance programs, illustrating deep anger at with regard to a lucrative system accused of enriching itself at the expense of patients.

“We don’t kill people in cold blood for political reasons or to express a point of view,” condemned Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro on Monday. “This killer is hailed as a hero. Listen to me carefully, he’s not a hero,” he insisted.