The suspect in the case of killing a health officer was arrested at McDonald’s

A 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the New York City shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione, 26, was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, 450 kilometers west of New York City on Monday after a customer at the fast food restaurant spotted the suspect.

He was found with a handwritten note that showed “interest and attitude”, according to police.

Mr. Mangione later appeared in a Pennsylvania court to be arraigned on the first five charges and was denied bail. The prosecutor said he expects a murder case to be opened soon.

Mr Mangione was formally charged on Monday evening with charges of fraud, carrying a firearm without a licence, tampering with records or identification, possession of a weapon and giving false information to the police.

Pete Weeks, the district attorney in Blair County, Pennsylvania, said the murder charges from New York will be filed “tonight or tomorrow” or “soon”.

Mr. Mangione stopped cooperating after his arrest, officials said.

A handcuffed Mr. Mangione appeared in court on Monday, wearing jeans and a blue sweater. He appeared calm in court, looking around at the people present including the media.

New York City investigators used one of the world’s largest digital surveillance systems, police dogs, drones and divers in Central Park’s lake to find the trail before it spread to neighboring states.

But it appears that a McDonald’s customer spotted the suspect through media coverage and alerted an employee, authorities said.

According to authorities in Pennsylvania, police were called to a report of a “suspicious male” similar to the suspect in Thompson’s murder.

When police arrived at the fast-food restaurant, Mr. Mangione showed them a fake New Jersey driver’s license in the name of Mark Rosario, court documents said.

He “became silent and began to shake” when the officer asked if he had been to New York recently, the criminal complaint added.

When told he would be arrested if he lied about his name, he admitted to being Luigi Mangione, according to court documents.

When asked why he lied, he told police it was “obviously inappropriate,” court documents state.

A search of his backpack revealed a black 3D-printed printer, a 3D-printed silencer and a full six-round magazine of 9mm ammunition.

Earlier, New York Police Commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said that the weapon and suppressor taken by the investigators from the suspect “are both consistent with the weapon used in the murder”.

If any charges are filed in New York, Mr. Mangione will be given an opportunity to withdraw his extradition or contest it.

If he quits, he will be immediately available to New York authorities. If he joins it, the process may take between 30 and 45 days.

A three-page handwritten letter found in Mr.

Mr Kenny said Mr Mangione was born and raised in Maryland and has ties to San Francisco, California.

Authorities believe he may have attended university in Pennsylvania, but his last known address was in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Car buyers website TrueCar confirmed that he was employed there but left in 2023.

As a teenager, Mr. Mangione attended an all-boys private school in Maryland, where he was class valedictorian.

A LinkedIn account that appears to be his own says he worked as a data engineer in California, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a teacher and founded a video game development club.

Several posts on an account on X, formerly on Twitter, which appeared to be his own suggested that friends were trying to contact him, with one person writing in October that “no one has heard from you in months”.

Thompson, 50, was shot and killed in the back early Wednesday morning outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare, the medical insurance giant he led, was holding an investor meeting.

Police said he was targeted for a planned murder.

The words “deny”, “defend” and “depose” were written on shell casings found at the scene.

Investigators believe it could be a sign of what critics call the “three Ds of insurance” – tactics used by insurance companies to deny payment claims for patients in America’s complex and largely privately run health care system.

(Additional reporting by Cai Pigliucci and Mike Wendling)