Gun, fingerprints link accused shooter Luigi Mangione with CEO killing, police say

The investigation into the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson gained steam Wednesday as law enforcement officials said a gun found in the possession of shooting suspect Luigi Mangione and fingerprints from near the scene of the crime closely link him to the attack.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said investigators matched the gun Mangione had in his backpack when arrested Monday in Pennsylvania to three shell casings discovered where Thompson was shot in midtown Manhattan.

At a public safety news conference Wednesday, Tisch also said fingerprints matching those of Mangione were found on a water bottle and an energy bar wrapper close to last Wednesday's early-morning assault.

Police have said the gunman stopped at a Starbucks before the attack and used cash to buy a bottle of water and protein bars. Those items were recovered and analyzed for forensic evidence, officials said.

The breaks in the case come one day after Mangione's lawyer, Thomas Dickey, said his client intends to oppose extradition to New York and plead not guilty to all the charges, including a count of second-degree murder filed by prosecutors in Manhattan.

"We're going to fight this along the rules and with the constitutional protections that my client has," Thomas told reporters, later adding: "I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's the shooter."

Notebook describes plans for the killing and rationale, reports say

Police discovered a spiral notebook they say belongs to Mangione with detailed plans for the killing of Thompson as well as the rationale for the attack, multiple outlets reported, citing police sources.

The notebook, which was first reported by CNN and confirmed to the New York Times and New York Post, includes a passage in which the author concluded that a bomb "could kill innocents" and instead decided on launching an attack "at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention."

"It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents," the notebook says, according to the outlets.

The notebook included a to-do list and references to the Unabomber, whose manifesto received a glowing review from a Goodreads user appearing to be Mangione.

After Mangione's arrest, officials said investigators discovered three handwritten pages that speak to the alleged gunman's motivation. While police officials did not provide details about the writings, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said they revealed "ill will toward corporate America."

A warrant filed in Manhattan says police found "written admissions about the crime" when they searched Mangione.

Police investigating possible back injury, insurance claims

Investigators said they were looking into a possible back injury Mangione had suffered and whether his insurance claims were denied.

In an interview on Fox News, Kenny said Mangione may have sustained a back injury on July 4, 2023. In writings found when Mangione was arrested Monday, he mentioned the injury as well as UnitedHealthcare.

"He was posting an X-ray on his social media. Some of the writings that he had, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury," Kenny told the outlet. "So we're looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn't help him out to the fullest extent.”

Mangione's friends from his time in Hawaii in recent years indicated that chronic pain limited the daily life of someone who was otherwise a very active person, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit news organization that covers the state. Mangione's profile on X shows a background image of an X-ray with what appears to be screws and plates inserted in a lower back.

R.J. Martin, the founder of a co-living community in Honolulu where Mangione spent the first six months of 2022, said Mangione stayed in touch after moving away and even shared photos taken after his back surgery. Consistent with reported comments from others who know Mangione, Martin said his friend cut off contact in the summer.

“He went radio silent in June or July,” Martin said.

Health insurance companies facing moment of reckoning

The backlash against the healthcare industry that has followed Thompson's killing has caught the attention of insurers, who seek to comprehend their customers' outrage and also protect their executives.

"I think all of us are taking a step back and trying to understand what's happening with patients and their experiences," said Caroline Roan, chief sustainability officer at Pfizer PFE.N, calling the homicide "a tragedy of epic proportions."

Police said they found a manifesto handwritten by Mangione railing against health insurance executives and reportedly saying, "These parasites had it coming.''

In light of last week's attack and increased threats, health insurers are taking steps to keep their executives safe, such as removing their photos from company websites and exploring enhanced security measures.

Amazon Pharmacy Chief Medical Officer Vin Gupta said the industry needs to be more responsive to its customers, but emphasized there's no justification for actions like the fatal assault on Thompson.

"Our health system needs to be better ... There's a lot of things that should cause a lot of outrage," Gupta said, adding: "Last week was horrifically shocking. Are there going to be copycats? That is unacceptable. We need people to speak out that false moral equivalences must not be accepted.''

Adams says suspect will be prosecuted 'to the fullest extent'

At a public safety news conference Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams thanked detectives who investigated Thompson's shooting. While he did not mention the suspect by name, Adams said, “We look forward to prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the law.”

Mangione’s lawyer has vowed to fight extradition to New York and expects his client to plead not guilty to all charges currently filed against him.

On Tuesday, Manhattan prosecutors unveiled a warrant in which Mangione was charged with second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of a weapon in the third-degree.

Penn professor regrets praising Mangione

At Mangione’s alma mater, an assistant professor who appeared to express support online for his vigilante actions now says she regrets it.

Julia Alekseyeva, who teaches English and media studies at the University of Pennsylvania, seemed to be alluding to the accused killer when she touted the “icon we all need and deserve” in an Instagram story this week.

Alekseyeva also appears in a TikTok video next to the caption: “have never been prouder to be a professor at the University of P3nnsylvania.” On the video, she moves her finger to the beat of a song from “Les Miserables’’ about downtrodden soldiers rising up in battle.

Mangione, a 2020 graduate of Penn, has been celebrated by some on social media for allegedly attacking the leader of a healthcare insurer, but typically not by instructors of young people.

“These were completely insensitive and inappropriate, and I retract them wholly,’’ Alekseyeva said on the X platform about the postings. “I do not condone violence and I am genuinely regretful of any harm the posts have caused.”

? Zachary Schermele

People offer to pay Luigi Mangione's legal bills, lawyer says

People have contacted the office of the attorney representing Mangione and offered to bankroll the suspect’s legal bills.

In an interview on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlin Collins,” Dickey said he had not seen the emailed offers himself but said “my understanding from my staff is people are doing that.” He told the outlet that people “were exercising their right to free speech and they're saying that's the way they're supporting my client.”

Following Thompson’s death, many people on social media glorified the suspect’s alleged actions as a statement against an industry often criticized for its denials of health care coverage.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a Tuesday news briefing, "Violence to combat any sort of corporate greed is unacceptable."

Questions swirl in Luigi Mangione's Maryland hometown

In a suburb of Baltimore, Thomas J. Maronick Jr. sat in his law office struggling to understand why the promising scion of a prominent local family sits in jail and has been charged with the murder of a health care CEO.

For decades, Maronick worked with other members of the Mangione family, which owned local country clubs and the radio station where Maronick hosted a talk show. But he said Tuesday he was in the dark about what could possibly have changed for the young man – and when.

“I want to know the same things that everyone would like to know. How a young man from wealth and privilege who had the world in front of him, how this could possibly have veered astray if these facts are true?” Maronick told USA TODAY, echoing a question that hung heavy in Mangione’s hometown.

Given the family’s status, Mangione’s arrest sent a shockwave through the community of Towson and surrounding areas near Baltimore. Still, Maronick said, many were still waiting for further puzzle pieces to fall into place as they tried to comprehend the arrest.

“It's a terrible situation and obviously, a terrible tragedy,” Maronick said. “But at the same time, the accused deserves the presumption of innocence. That's the defense attorney in me saying that, of course, but, hopefully that's what happens.”

– N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Chris Kenning

More: In Luigi Mangione's Maryland hometown, questions swirl about an unlikely murder suspect

Luigi Mangione's mother filed missing person report in San Francisco

Mangione's mother filed a missing person report with the San Francisco Police Department last month, trying to find a son she had not heard from since July, according to multiple media reports.

The missing person report was filed Nov. 18, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner. When asked about the report, Robert Rueca, a spokesperson for the SFPD, did not comment and referred questions to the New York Police Department.

Officials previously said Mangione lived in San Francisco after college, noting that his last known address was in Hawaii.

In 2023, he left his work at California-based TrueCar, an auto marketplace site, a company spokesperson told USA TODAY. Mangione's mother mentioned the company in the report as the last place she knew her son had worked, the outlets reported.

Police on alert for copycats targeting executives

Law enforcement agencies in different parts of the country are on heightened alert that the Thompson killing in New York City has spawned threats or calls to action against corporate executives and their families.

In Colorado, a law enforcement bulletin warned authorities that the attack may be used as "messaging and propaganda" to share ways to target other health care companies, WLS-TV reported. It urged companies to review their security measures to safeguard their executives.

In Chicago on Monday, a sign that said “Deny Defend Depose” was hung on a bridge spanning the city’s iconic DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Those were the words written on bullet casings found at the scene of Thompson's shooting, authorities said.

Chicago police launched an investigation after someone sprayed "Kill your CEO" on the walls of multiple North Side businesses over the weekend, local stations reported.

Contributing: Medora Lee, Joey Garrison, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gun, fingerprints linked to accused CEO killer Mangione, police say