Luigi Nicholas Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in downtown New York, was arrested on Monday in Pennsylvania.
Officers immediately recognized the suspect in the back of a local McDonald’s.
At a news conference Monday night, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro hailed Altoona Police Officer Tyler Frye as a hero for his quick action in identifying Luigi Mangione.
“I want to give a special thank you to Officer Tyler Frye of the Altoona Police Department. Officer Frye has served his fellow citizens here in Pennsylvania for about six months and he acted quickly,” Shapiro said.
“He acted smart, and he acted calmly. You know, safety often involves the strength of the community-police relationship,” he said.
Frye said he and his partner recognized the suspect immediately.
“We just didn’t think twice about it. We knew this was our guy,” he said.
Mangione began shaking when police approached him at a McDonald’s on Monday, court documents reveal.
He was wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a silver laptop computer when officers approached him at the fast-food chain, the report states.
Officers asked Mangione to remove his mask and immediately recognized him as the suspect in Thompson’s murder. Officers had seen photos of the suspect from media sources, court documents state.
Mangione gave officers a fake ID card with the name Mark Rosario on it. Police conducted an identification check and determined it was fake. Officers then asked Mangione why he lied.
He replied, “Of course I shouldn’t have,” according to court documents. Mangione was then taken into custody.
The suspect was previously arrested with a so-called “ghost” gun, a firearm made with a 3D printer.
Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner, also said that Mangione was arrested with several forged identification documents, a U.S. passport, and a silencer “consistent with the description” of the one used in the Thompson murder.
In addition, a two-page document was found containing numerous criticisms of the U.S. healthcare industry, including messages that “violence is the only solution.”
