Man with Bay Area ties charged with murder in UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing: court records
NEW YORK - New York authorities said Monday a 26-year-old man named Luigi Mangione was in police custody in connection with the UnitedHealthcare CEO killing investigation, FOX5 New York reported.
Late Monday, prosecutors filed a murder charge against Mangione for the killing, according to court records.
Here is what we know about Mangione so far:
Luigi Mangione in custody
Mangione was taken into police custody Monday morning in Pennsylvania in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
He was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Penn., which is about 300 miles outside of New York City, after police got a tip that he’d been spotted.
He was found with a gun, a silencer, fake IDs and writings apparently critical of the health insurance industry, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press.
Booking photo for Luigi Mangione courtesy Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Mangione appeared in court Monday in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for an arraignment on gun charges. Video shows Mangione leaving the courthouse in Hollidaysburg after his arrest.
A booking photo for Mangione was released by Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. He is housed at SCI Huntington with the inmate number - QQ7787.
The police criminal complaint charged him with forgery, carrying firearms without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing an instrument of crime and providing false identification to law enforcement, FOX 5 New York reported.
READ MORE: UnitedHealthcare CEO killing: Police release photo of person of interest's face as manhunt continues
McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., where the suspect was taken in to custody, according to the NYPD.
Ties to the Bay Area
Authorities say Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and his last known address is in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kenny said.
Authorities believe he went to college in Pennsylvania. A man with the same name was listed as the valedictorian in the 2016 class at a Baltimore private school.
A LinkedIn profile for someone with the same name shows he spent some time at Stanford in 2019 as part of a pre-collegiate program.
In a statement, Stanford confirmed someone with the same name was previously employed as a counselor at the college.
"We can confirm that a person by the name of Luigi Mangione was employed as a head counselor under the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies program between May and September of 2019," a university spokesperson told KTVU.
From May to September of that year, he worked as a Head Counselor and Artificial Intelligence Teaching assistant.
"The entire tech industry is, and all academia is focused on AI. So it doesn't surprise me that an apparently smart person, perhaps evil, but still smart, would be involved in AI," said Larry Magid, Silicon Valley tech expert. "And obviously Stanford is a very great place to do your AI work if you have that opportunity."
Mangione's professional bio says he earn a master of science in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
It lists "True Car" as his employer for four years.
The company told KTVU, in part, "We can confirm that Luigi Mangione has not been an employee of our company since 2023."
"Apparently, he spent a lot of time advising students in various ways," Magid said. "AI is a very important area of study at Stanford. Not just in the computer sciences, but in every aspect of it. In medicine, in social science, in the humanities. Every discipline is using AI. So I could see how Stanford would hire lots of people and I could see how he'd be attracted to it."
Manhunt for shooter who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO in front of NY hotel Wednesday
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson was gunned down as he was walking to an investors meeting Wednesday at the Hilton Midtown in New York City Wednesday. Surveillance video caught the shooting on camera and other video shows the shooter running away and then hopping onto an e-bike and riding into Central Park.
Background
Thompson was shot and killed near W. 54th St. and 6th Avenue outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan around 6:45 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2024. Thompson was set to take part in the company's shareholder conference at the hotel.
Video shows the gunman firing shots from behind Thompson, striking him several times.
Authorities say the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" – a phrase critics use to describe insurance company tactics – were written on the ammo casings left behind at the scene. New York City police believe the shooting was premeditated and targeted.
Despite an extensive search and heavy media coverage, so far, police have not been able to make an arrest in the shooting.
Over the weekend, police released a new batch of photos showing the masked gunman riding in a cab.
The award for information leading to an arrest has also risen to $50,000.
On Friday, police reportedly found a distinctive backpack that the gunman was wearing. Inside, they found a jacket and Monopoly money. According to reports, investigators were also testing a discarded water bottle and protein bar wrapper for DNA.
Who is Brian Thompson?
Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to UnitedHealthcare’s website. He lived in Minnesota, where the company is based.
Before that, he was CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s government programs business including Medicare & Retirement and Community & State.
He’d worked at UnitedHealth Group since 2004 and served in multiple leadership roles.
Before he joined UnitedHealth Group, Thompson was a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He was valedictorian of his class at the University of Iowa, according to Thompson's LinkedIn profile.
UnitedHealthcare is ranked fifth on the Fortune 500 and employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. It’s the largest private health insurer in the US, according to CNBC, providing health insurance for more than 49 million people in the United States. Its Optum segment also provides care, runs one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits management businesses and offers technology services.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.