Police charge suspect in CEO Brian Thompson killing after analyzing videos
A 26-year-old man identified as Luigi Nicholas Mangione was charged with murder and other felonies in connection with the Dec. 4 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Paste BN reported Monday.
New York city police said "a person of interest" was detained in a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, at about 9:15 a.m. Monday. Police said the man had a weapon and silencer, and had clothing that matched that of the gunman.
Mangione was charged with with forgery, tampering with records or identification, giving police false ID, and being in possession of instruments of a crime. He was arraigned and jailed without bail.
Thompson, 50, was shot three times from behind by a masked gunman who waited several minutes for Thompson to walk by the Hilton hotel where the company was hosting an investor conference. A motive remains unknown.
Here is a timeline of what we know. All times are approximate.
Tracking the shooter's movements
Police have been analyzing surveillance videos to track and identify the assailant who shot and killed Thompson in a “targeted attack” outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on the morning of Dec. 4.
In a massive manhunt, police reviewed images from public and private cameras to determine the gunman’s movements before and after the shooting. Police released images on Dec. 5.
Dec. 4, 5 a.m.
A surveillance video records the shooting suspect outside the Frederick Douglass Houses, two public housing buildings at 830 Amsterdam Avenue on New York’s Upper West Side, ABC News reports. The suspect appears to be carrying a battery for an e-bike.
6:17 a.m.
Cameras inside a Starbucks at West 56th Street and 6th Avenue, two blocks from the hotel, record the suspect at a counter, CBS News reports.
Though his face is partially hidden, police are using facial recognition technology to try to identify him, the BBC reports.
Video footage scrutinized for shooter's identity
6:39 a.m.
The suspect arrives at the New York Hilton Hotel, 237 W. 54th St. in Manhattan. Police believe the suspect knew which door Thompson planned to use and the time of his arrival. A video shows the suspect ignoring passersby and making a phone call outside the hotel.
6:44 a.m.
Video shows Thompson walking across the street from his hotel to the Hilton, CBS reports.
How shooting unfolded
6:46 a.m.
A surveillance video shows Thompson being shot outside the hotel. The shooter approaches him from behind and fires into his back and leg at close range. A woman a few feet from Thompson runs away as the shooter appears to clear a jam in the gun before stepping closer to Thompson, who is on the ground, and firing again.
The shooter runs across West 54th Street and through a pedestrian passageway near the Ziegfeld Ballroom, 141 W. 54th St. He emerges on West 55th Street. In the passageway, police find a phone and a water bottle that may have been purchased at the Starbucks, CNN reports.
6:47 a.m.
Police respond to a 911 call about the shooting. Police later find three bullet casings inscribed with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose," Paste BN reports.
Those words are similar to a 2010 book title, “Delay, Deny, Defend,” by Jay Feinman, which says health insurers deny customer claims to increase profits, according to The New York Times.
6:48 a.m.
Police report the shooting suspect is seen riding an electric bike on the Center Drive path into Central Park.
7:12 a.m.
Thompson is pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York.
Police have released several images of the shooter in which the gunman can be seen wearing a dark-colored jacket with a hood over his head, a black facemask, black-and-white sneakers and a distinctive gray backpack, Paste BN reports.
Law enforcement is using a number of cameras to identify the shooter. New York expanded its surveillance systems after 9/11 with aid from the federal government, The New York Times says.
The NYPD on Dec. 5 released new surveillance images of a person they described as a "person of interest wanted for questioning" in the shooting.
The new photos show a person wearing a hooded jacket and a black backpack, which does not appear to be the same gray backpack the shooter wore while carrying out the shooting early morning on Dec. 4.
Police announced a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.
Monday, Dec. 9
New York police announce the detainment of a man in Altoona and say he “is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder” of Thompson. He is eating at McDonald's when an employee recognizes him and calls police.
The man, Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, is later charged with murder and held without bail.
The suspect had a "ghost gun" that can be manufactured by a 3-D printer, the Guardian reported, and a three-page handwritten document that seemed to indicate "some ill will toward corporate America."
The man also had a fake New Jersey ID that police say he used for a hostel on the Upper West Side where he stayed before the shooting, the Washington Post reported.
Police say they believe the gunman acted alone.
CONTRIBUTING John Bacon, Christopher Cann, Jorge L. Ortiz, Nick Penzenstadler, Eric Lagatta and Mary Walrath-Holdridge
SOURCE Paste BN Network reporting and research; Reuters