Authorities on Monday identified a “strong person of interest” who was arrested on firearms charges and was being questioned in connection to the murder ofUnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside his Manhattan hotel early last Wednesday.
On Monday, as the manhunt for Thompson’s killer stretched into a sixth day, police made a breakthrough and questioned a man in Pennsylvania after responding to a tip that came in from a McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania.
The man was identified Monday afternoon as Luigi Mangione, 26, who was recognized by the employee.
The NYPD released unmasked photos of the suspect on December 5, the day after the fatal shooting, and scoured a Manhattan hostel in the Upper West Side where the suspect was staying, in addition to Central Park where the suspect’s backpack was recovered.
Over the weekend police released additional surveillance images of the suspect in the back of a cab.
The NYPD issued a $10,000 reward for information on the shooter, while the FBI also joined the hunt, offering an additional $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Here’s everything we know about the person of interest:
New York police released unmasked photos of the suspected gunman and searched a hostel in upper Manhattan he was believed to be staying in (NYPD)
Tip from the public leads police to Pennsylvania
On Monday, police responded to a tip from a member of the public in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, who said they saw a man who looked like the person of interest police have been searching for.
The 26-year-old man was taken in for questioning, and it was discovered that he was in possession of a ghost gun that matches the weapon believed to have been used in the assassination-style killing, a senior law enforcement official, officials said at a press conference on Monday.
The man also had supresser for the gun and several fake identification cards, including one the NYPD believes was used by the gunman.
New York Mayor Eric Adams told the press conference that the man in custody matches the description of the person in the photos and that he possessed items connected to the killing.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed Mangione has been arrested on firearm charges.
He is believed to be “our person of interest,” she told the press conference, and said it was down to a “combination of old-school detective work and new age technology” as well as the public that helped lead to the arrest.
“We should never underestimate the power of the public to be our eyes and ears,” she said.