NEW YORK — The 3D-printed gun found on the suspect in last week’s killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson matches shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday.
Tisch also said the fingerprints of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of the murder, matched those found on a water bottle recovered not far from the crime scene.
“First we recovered the weapon in question from Pennsylvania, it is now in the NYPD crime lab. We were able to match that weapon to the three shell casings we found at the murder scene in Midtown,” Tisch said. “We were also able to match the fingerprints of the subject in our crime lab to fingerprints found on both the water bottle and the KIND bar near the murder scene in Midtown.”
Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday and charged with forgery and firearms offencesand is being held without bail. He appeared in court on Tuesday and contested his extradition to New Yorkwhere he is charged with second-degree murder.
Corresponds to a great boon for research
The gun is the first evidence linking Mangione to the crime, and the fingerprints on the water bottle are the first positive forensic match linking him to where Thompson was shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel on December 4say sources.
Investigators believe they have also recovered a discarded coffee cup that the suspected gunman may have used before the shooting at a Manhattan Starbucks and dusted it for fingerprints, a senior police source said.
According to law enforcement sources, police recovered a notebook belonging to Mangione at the time of his arrest, in which he wrote that he considered using a bomb but decided to shoot because it was more targeted and would not endanger innocent lives.
Regarding how all the new evidence will impact the extradition process, CBS News law enforcement contributor Rich Esposito said, “The evidence being gathered now will help build the strongest case, and believe me, they’re going to need the most solid case. There will be quite a bit of public attention around any trial.”
Mayor Eric Adams expressed his gratitude to law enforcement, saying in part: “The number of hours they spent 24 hours a day bringing this person to justice, off the streets of America, especially off the streets of our city, and we look forward to prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the law.”
Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed
Thompson a 50-year-old father of two childrenwas shot and killed outside a hotel where UnitedHealthcare was to hold its annual investor conference.
Tisch called it a “premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack,” and said the gunman had been lurking for several minutes before shooting Thompson in the back and leg.
The police started a manhunt for the suspect and started putting together a timeline. Investigators said he fled the scene on a bicycle and rode to Central Park. where sources said they later found a backpack which contained a jacket and Monopoly money, but not the murder weapon.
The biggest breakthrough in the case came from an Upper West Side hostel where the shooter is said to have stayed in the days before the shooting. Surveillance footage showed him lowering his mask after sources said the woman at the front desk asked to “see his beautiful smile.”
Police later has released more images showing him in a taxiwhich they believe took him to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Upper Manhattan and boarded a Greyhound. Investigators believe he left town immediately after the shooting and traveled through Pennsylvania before he was caught.
He was spotted on Monday at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvaniaabout 300 miles away from the crime scene. A customer recognized him and alerted an employeewho called the police.
Mangione was found in possession of a fake New Jersey ID, believed to be the same ID he used to check into the hostel. initially taken into custody on charges of forgery. Police searched his belongings and found a 3D printed ghost gun matches the one used in the shooting, along with a U.S. passport, $8,000 cash and a handwritten note.
Sources say CBS News researchers are referring to the note as a claim of responsibility. They believe the suspect’s grievances against UnitedHealthcare and other health insurers motivated the killing.
In addition to the note, sources say shell casings were found at the scene It had the words “delay” and “deny” written on itpresumably a reference used by critics of the insurance industry.
Who is Luigi Mangione?
CBS News has learned the 26-year-old is coming from a prominent Maryland family. He graduated as valedictorian from a private high school and received his Masters in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports about Luigi Mangione. We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” his family said in a statement after his arrest. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and ask people to pray for everyone involved. We are devastated by this news.”
Mangione stayed at a co-living space called Surfbreak in Hawaii until 2022, when a community spokesperson said he left due to a lifelong back injury aggravated by surfing and hiking. The spokesperson also said they believe Mangione returned to Hawaii in 2023 and started a book club, with several members left with “discomfort choosing books.”
Sources tell CBS News that back pain was a major factor in his life and seemed to be a source of frustration.
“We are advised that he may have been in an accident that required an emergency room visit on July 4, 2023,” NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny told CBS News New York’s Marcia Kramer.
In recent months, posts tagging Mangione on social media suggested he had lost touch with friends, with some asking where he was and what he was doing, wishing him well and hoping he was doing well. His mother filed a missing persons report in San Francisco in November, citing concerns that he had not communicated.
Pat Milton contributed to this report.
