Brian Thompson killing: Suspect who killed health care chief appears in court after being arrested by inexperienced officer | US News

A man suspected of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was held in custody after a brief court appearance in Pennsylvania.

The police arrested Luigi Nicholas Mangione on Monday after a McDonald’s employee in Altoona alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a gun, a mask and papers linking him to the ambush.

The 26-year-old, who was charged with weapons and forgery and other charges, will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Mr. Thompson’s death.

Brian Thompson shooting – what we know

The chance sighting in the restaurant led to a dramatic interruption in the rapidly advancing investigation.

Officer Tyler Frye, who has only been on the job for about six months, and a colleague reported to McDonald’s where the suspect was spotted.

They asked him to pull down his blue medical mask and “immediately recognized him.”

Officer Frye said, “We didn’t even think twice about it, we knew that was our guy.”

“It feels good to get a guy like that off the streets, especially starting my career like that, it feels great.”

According to court documents, Mangione began shaking when officers asked if he had been in New York recently.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said that “in some dark corners, this murderer is being hailed as a hero.”

“Listen to me, he’s not a hero,” the Democrat added.

“The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.”

New York Police Chief Joseph Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, had ties to San Francisco and had a last known address in Honolulu.

Police found a three-page document containing writings that suggested Mangione “had an antipathy toward corporate America,” Kenny said.

Mr Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference.

Footage showed the attacker walking slowly behind Mr Thompson and opening fire outside the Hilton hotel in what was described as a “premeditated, pre-planned targeted attack”.

Bullet casings found at the scene of the manager’s murder were marked “Deny,” “Delay” and “Cancel.”