NEW YORK: Twenty-six-year-old Luigi Mangione has been arrested for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week, according to a report by CNN.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said this during a Monday news conference.
According to a criminal complaint released on Monday, Mangione has been charged with five counts.
He is charged with one felony count of forgery, one felony count of carrying a firearm without a license, one misdemeanor count of tampering with records or identification, one misdemeanor count of possessing instruments of a crime and one misdemeanor count of false identification to law enforcement authorities, the complaint says, CNN reported.
Following Mangione’s arrest, an officer searched his backpack and discovered a black 3D-printed pistol along with a matching 3D-printed silencer, according to the criminal complaint.
The pistol was equipped with a loaded Glock magazine containing six nine-millimetre full metal jacket rounds and one loose nine-millimetre hollow point round. The complaint also noted that the firearm comprised a metal slide, a plastic handle, and a metal threaded barrel.
Following the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the New York Police Department had released images of the gunman.
Sharing a post on X on December 5, the New York City Police Dept wrote, “Below are photos of a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide on Dec. 4. This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premeditated, targeted attack.”
“The full investigative efforts of the NYPD are continuing, and we are asking for the public’s help–if you have any information about this case, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction,” the post added.
Notably, the Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, one of America’s largest health insurers, was fatally shot in the chest in Manhattan, New York on December 4.
According to the New York Times, the police report said that the executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 am (US Local Time).
It further reported that Thompson was taken to the Mount Sinai West Hospital in critical condition. It was reported that police officers continued searching for the gunman, who fled the scene.
The police believed the attack on the CEO seemed to be a targeted one as it happened during UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference in New York City.
According to the official website of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021. UnitedHealthcare employs more than 1,00,000 people across the United States and globally, and is part of UnitedHealth Group, ranked fifth in the Fortune 500.
Prior to this role, Brian served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare’s government programs business including Medicare & Retirement, the largest business dedicated to the health and well-being needs of seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries; and Community and State, which provides healthcare products and services to states that care for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage. (ANI)