“Strong person of interest” connected to murder of a UnitedHealthcare CEO arrested and identified
UPDATE (2:07 PM): According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the "strong person of interest" has been identified as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, and he is currently being held on gun charges.
Police say he was carrying a so-called "ghost gun" that could have been made at home on a 3D printer.
NYPD says Mangione was also in possession of a handwritten document, which contained anti-corporate messages.
New York Mayor Eric Adams called Mangione as a "strong person of interest" and praised police and the public for their help in the case.
"Our officers have been working around the clock. Many of them did not go home to pursue this individual. It was crucial that we were able to remove him off the streets of America, and we were going to seek him out, no matter, no matter where he was at the time, and so this is a strong person of interest," Adams said.
Mangione has not yet been charged in direct connection to Thompson's murder, but police say prosecutors in New York do plan to extradite him from Pennsylvania on more charges.
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Police are questioning a man in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The man is being questioned in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and had a gun similar to the one used in the shooting, sources tell NBC News.
Investigators are looking into whether the man being questioned had recently traveled there by bus from Philadelphia.
The person of interest was described as "suspicious" by customers at a McDonald's, who called police. When police arrived, they noticed the man had a fake ID, and he was taken in for questioning.
Police have not released a possible motive in Thompson's killing.