5 days of US police hunting for suspect in murder of insurance CEO

Brian Thompson, 50, CEO of health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was ambushed and shot dead by a gunman on the streets of New York on the morning of December 4. The killer then ran across the street and escaped on an electric bike, opening one of the largest manhunts in the US, with a series of tracking and surveillance technologies applied.

Five days later, on the morning of December 9, Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 310 miles from New York. Police identified him as a suspect in Thompson’s murder and charged him with multiple counts, including murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and forgery.

However, Mangione was not detected thanks to surveillance or tracking technology of the US police. This suspect went to a McDonald's store and was discovered by the staff there to have the same characteristics as the gunman the police were looking for, so he secretly reported it to the authorities.

Two Altoona police officers responded to the call and found a young man wearing a beanie and a surgical mask sitting against a wall, eating and using a laptop. The officers approached him, asked him to remove his mask and "immediately recognized him as the suspect in the murder of CEO Thompson."

Police asked Mangione to produce identification. Mangione produced a fake New Jersey driver's license in the name of Mark Rosario. When police continued to ask if he had been to New York City recently, Mangione "went silent and began to shake."

Unable to verify the driver's license the suspect presented when checking the data on the system, two officers informed Mangione that he was under police investigation for suspected use of fake documents.

The suspect then admitted that his real name was Mangione. When asked why he used a fake name, Mangione replied: "I obviously shouldn't have done that."

Mangione was arrested carrying a homemade Glock-style gun, a silencer, clothing, a balaclava, multiple identification cards, a fake driver's license and a three-page handwritten document "discussing the suspect's motives and thoughts".

Police said the document did not identify a specific target for the threat, but expressed hostility toward American corporations. “These parasites will be punished. I apologize for any impact, but it has to happen,” the document said. The document suggested the suspect acted alone, funding the assassination himself.

"This is the result of combining traditional investigative methods with the application of technology," said Jessica Tisch, New York Police Commissioner.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has had to devote all its efforts to investigating and hunting down the suspect. Over the past 5 days, the NYPD has deployed advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sniffer dogs, divers, and used intelligence and counter-terrorism techniques to solve the case.

NYPD investigators used cutting-edge technology to analyze thousands of hours of video, track hundreds of leads, and crunch all the forensic evidence, DNA, fingerprints, IP addresses, and more to narrow the search.

“They also go door-to-door interviewing potential witnesses, doing traditional police work,” said New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

The investigation made a major breakthrough when police obtained images of the suspect at a Starbucks near the scene.

"There are a lot of twists and turns in this case. The fact is, we've collected a tremendous amount of forensic evidence, video evidence. We've asked the public to help identify the suspect, and the public has responded," said Joe Kenny, the NYPD's chief of detectives.

Using video footage, investigators determined that Mangione had rented a motel room in Upper Manhattan and taken a bus to Midtown Manhattan to commit the crime. Police obtained video of the young man showing his face at the motel reception, along with close-up images of the masked killer sitting in the back of a taxi.

"We share these images and the public helps them spread, thereby providing important information. The role of the media and the public in this investigation is huge, as they become the eyes and ears of the police. They cannot be underestimated," said Commissioner Tish.

This is the third time police have arrested a suspect in a major crime in New York in recent weeks thanks to information provided by the public, Ms. Tish added.

The investigation into Mangione is ongoing, and officials are still trying to determine whether the gunman had help, although they believe Mangione acted alone. "We will be transferring Mangione to New York for further investigation," Tish said.