Luigi Mangione: UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Assassin Was Sitting Quietly at McDonald’s But Was Left Shocked When Cops Arrived and Identified Him

Luigi Mangione, the suspected assassin, appeared visibly shocked when McDonald’s staff identified him following five days on the run. The 26-year-old was arrested on Monday at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on firearm charges, five days after he allegedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel.

Several employees inside McDonald’s noticed the masked man, who had quietly ordered a drink and was sitting and reading, according to sources cited by the Daily Mail. A customer then quietly pointed out that the man resembled the fugitive authorities had been searching for, after which one employee contacted the police, who then quickly arrived at the McDonald’s outlet.

Moment of Arrest

When officers arrived, they found the suspect sitting with a medical mask on, focused on a silver laptop, and his backpack placed on the floor next to him, according to charging documents.

Upon removing the mask, rookie Altoona Police Officer Tyler Frye and his partner instantly recognized him as the man suspected of killing Thompson on December 4. “We just didn’t think twice about it. We knew that was our guy,” Frye told reporters at a news conference Monday night.

According to police, Mangione presented officers with a New Jersey driver’s license bearing the name Mark Rosario, listing a birth date of July 21, 1998.

When an officer inquired if he had recently been to New York, Mangione reportedly started to tremble, as mentioned in the charging documents.

“He became visibly nervous, kind of shaking at that question. And he didn’t really answer it directly,” Altoona Police Chief Derek Swope said.

“The suspect didn’t have to say a lot after that question to show that he was very nervous about [the officers].”

However, officers quickly realized that the New Jersey driver’s license was fake. One officer then told Mangione that he was under investigation, and if he had lied about his identity, he would be arrested.

Upon hearing this, Mangione allegedly revealed his real name. When asked why he had given a fake identity, the suspect reportedly said, “I clearly shouldn’t have.”

In the end, Officer Frye said that Mangione “was very cooperative with us” and “didn’t give us too many issues.”

“Once we found out his identity, we took it from there,” said the rookie, who has only been on the force for six months.

Game Over

Mangione ultimately left the McDonald’s calmly with the officers, and staff said that the arrest caused little disruption to their workday. “We all just want to know why and how he ended up in our little town, because it doesn’t make any sense,” one employee told the Daily Mail.

“There isn’t a lot of footfall around here, it’s not a big city.”

Mangione now faces several charges, including forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement.

He was denied bail on Monday evening and is expected to face more charges related to the execution-style murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO in the coming days.

The wealthy CEO was in New York City to lead UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor meeting, where he planned to discuss the company’s significant profits for the year.

Surveillance footage captured Thompson walking outside a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan when he was shot at close range with three bullets.