Police say suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing wasn’t shopper of insurer

New York — 

The person charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was not a shopper of the medical insurer and will have focused it due to its measurement and affect, a senior police official stated Thursday.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny advised NBC New York in an interview Thursday that investigators have uncovered proof that Luigi Mangione had prior data UnitedHealthcare was holding its annual investor convention in New York Metropolis.

Mangione additionally talked about the corporate in a be aware present in his possession when he was detained by police in Pennsylvania.

“We’ve got no indication that he was ever a shopper of UnitedHealthcare, however he does make point out that it’s the fifth-largest company in America, which might make it the most important well being care group in America. In order that’s probably why he focused that firm,” stated Kenny.

UnitedHealthcare is within the high 20 largest U.S. firms by market capitalization however will not be the fifth largest. It’s the largest U.S. well being insurer.

Mangione stays jailed with out bail in Pennsylvania, the place he was arrested Monday after being noticed at a McDonald’s within the metropolis of Altoona, about 370 kilometers (about 230 miles) west of New York Metropolis. His lawyer there, Thomas Dickey, has stated Mangione intends to plead not responsible. Dickey additionally stated he has but to see proof decisively linking his shopper to the crime.

Mangione’s arrest got here 5 days after the caught-on-camera killing of Thompson exterior a Manhattan lodge.

Police say the shooter waited exterior the lodge the place the well being insurer was holding its investor convention, early on the morning of Dec. 4. He approached Thompson from behind and shot him earlier than fleeing on a bicycle by means of Central Park.

Mangione is combating makes an attempt to extradite him again to New York in order that he can face a homicide cost in Thompson’s killing. A listening to has been scheduled for Dec. 30.

The 26-year-old, who police say was discovered with a “ghost gun” matching shell casings discovered on the web site of the capturing, is charged in Pennsylvania with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and offering false identification to police.

Mangione is an Ivy League graduate from a distinguished Maryland actual property household. In posts on social media, Mangione wrote about experiencing extreme power again ache earlier than present process a spinal fusion surgical procedure in 2023. Afterward, he posted that the operation had been a hit and that his ache had improved and mobility returned. He urged others to contemplate the identical sort of surgical procedure.

On Wednesday, police stated investigators are taking a look at his writings about his well being issues and his criticism of company America and the U.S. well being care system.

Kenny stated within the NBC interview that Mangione’s household reported him lacking to San Francisco authorities in November.