Almost exactly one year after United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson died in a brazen attack in Manhattan, suspected assassin Luigi Mangione, appeared in court. Prosecutors charged Mangione with stalking and murder following the December 4, 2024, shooting. Police arrested Mangione on December 9 at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a manager called police about a suspicious person in the restaurant. But the call almost didn’t happen.
A court played audio from the manager’s call for the first time in public during an evidence-suppression hearing on December 1. Customers and the manager reportedly noticed Mangione sitting in a McDonald’s near the restrooms, wearing a hood and a mask, Business Insider reported. Mangione’s image had been widely circulated in the days since the shooting.
The manager was extremely skeptical that Mangione was sitting in the Altoona restaurant. She was so skeptical, she almost stopped herself from making the call. But her decision ended a five-day nationwide manhunt.
The unnamed manager apparently laughed nervously during the call.
“I have a customer here that, some other customers were suspicious of — that he looked like the CEO shooter from New York?” she said.
She added that she didn’t know how to handle the situation and even tried calling the non-emergency line.
“This is the one they think shot the police officer?” The dispatcher asked, looking for clarification.
But the manager confirmed this was a different wanted man.
“No,” she said. “The CEO.”
Police arrived shortly thereafter and arrested Mangione. Following his arrest, the Department of Justice released a statement announcing charges and reiterating the importance of contacting police.
“NYPD detectives worked relentlessly to identify and widely distribute images of the suspect who allegedly carried out this premeditated, preplanned, targeted murder, and they are committed to assisting prosecutors in seeing this important case through to its rightful conclusion,” Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch of the New York City Police Department said in the release.
“This senseless incident highlights the critical role of the public in the NYPD’s public safety mission, and I thank everyone who saw something, said something, and did something. It is because of the public’s actions that we now have an alleged killer in custody back in New York City.”
We can understand the manager’s hesitation. But this time, trusting her gut paid off in a big way. If convicted, Mangione could face life in prison.
