ALTOONA, Pennsylvania: Police arrested a suspect Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.
The chance sighting at the restaurant in Altoona led to a dramatic break in a challenging but fast-moving investigation that had captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the health insurance industry.
The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said. He was charged with weapons, forgery and other charges.
Mangione was sitting at a table in the rear of the McDonald’s wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop computer, documents said. When an officer asked if he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake.”
In his backpack, police found a black, 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed black silencer, according to the documents. The pistol had a metal slide and plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel. He was taken into custody about 9:15 a.m., Pennsylvania, police said.
“He is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Mangione had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, Tisch said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu. A message left Monday with a Philadelphia-area phone number connected to Mangione was not immediately returned.
He was being held in Pennsylvania on gun charges and eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death, Kenny said.
Mangione was arraigned and ordered held without bail during a brief court hearing. Asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could “answer that at a future date.”
Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had “ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said.
The handwritten document “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” Tisch said.
Mangione had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace, investigators said.
“As of right now the information we’re getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, capable of firing a 9 mm round,” Kenny said.
Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a US passport, Tisch said. Officers found a suppressor, “both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” the commissioner said.
NYPD detectives and staff from the Manhattan district attorney’s office traveled to Altoona to interview Mangione, Kenny said.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
UnitedHealth Group thanked law enforcement in a statement Monday. “Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” a company spokesperson said.
The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites.
The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, police said. He used a 9 mm pistol that police said resembled guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise.
Mangione attended an elite Baltimore prep school, graduating as valedictorian in 2016, according to the school’s website. He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesman said.
One of his cousins is a Maryland state legislator and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 1980s. On Monday, police blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to the suspect’s parents. A swarm of reporters and photographers gathered outside.
In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of nine photos and video — including footage of the attack, as well as images of the suspect at a Starbucks beforehand.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side showed the suspect grinning after removing his mask, police said.
On Monday, police credited news outlets for disseminating the images and the tipster for recognizing the suspect and calling authorities.
Investigators earlier suggested the gunman may have been a disgruntled employee or client of the insurer. Ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
The gunman concealed his identity with a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence, including a backpack he ditched in Central Park, a cellphone found in a pedestrian plaza and a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that police say he bought at Starbucks minutes before the attack.
On Friday, police said the killer had left the city soon after the shooting. Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle and emerged from the park without his backpack.
He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and bus routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, Kenny said.
The FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD offered.
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts
https://arab.news/pybmr
Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts
- The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites
Russia planned ‘acts of terrorism’ in the air, Polish PM says
- The explosions occurred in depots in Britain, Germany and Poland in July
- Russia has denied involvement in the incidents and Tusk did not mention them specifically
WARSAW: Russia planned ‘acts of terrorism’ in the air against Poland and other countries, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw.
Security officials have said that parcels that exploded at logistics depots in Europe were part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States. The explosions occurred in depots in Britain, Germany and Poland in July. Russia has denied involvement in the incidents and Tusk did not mention them specifically.
“The latest information can confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of terrorism in the air not only against Poland,” Tusk told a news conference. He did not say what acts he was referring to or elaborate on the contents of the information.
Moscow has regularly denied any involvement in the courier depot explosions, as well as break-ins, arson and attacks on individuals which Western officials say were carried out by operatives paid by Russia. The Russian embassy in Warsaw has not immediately replied to an emailed request for comment on Tusk’s statement.
US must not become complacent to a growing terrorism threat, a Counterterrorism Center official says
US must not become complacent to a growing terrorism threat, a Counterterrorism Center official says
- “We are in a period where we are facing an elevated threat environment,” Holmgren said
- He also points to mass migration from the Russia-Ukraine war that has sent central Asians to countries including Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and even the US
UNITED STATES: Brett Holmgren got woken up early on New Year’s Day by alerts that a driver had plowed into a crowd of revellers in New Orleans.
The rampage, which killed 14 people, was the deadliest attack on US soil in years and was inspired by the Daesh group.
The National Counterterrorism Center, which Holmgren leads, sprang into action to help the FBI run down information on the culprit from Texas and his plot.
It was a rare recent example of a mass attack motivated by religious extremism to hit the US homeland. But it didn’t occur in a vacuum, coming at a time when a terror threat that has waxed and waned in the two decades since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is decidedly on the rise around the world.
“We are in a period where we are facing an elevated threat environment,” Holmgren said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We faced that last year. We’re going to face it again in 2025.”
The NCTC emerged in the aftermath of 9/11 as a centralized US government hub to collect and analyze data and intelligence on the international terrorism threat, providing information to the White House and other agencies to shape policy decisions and protect against attacks.
A former counterterrorism analyst and assistant secretary of state, Holmgren was named its acting director last July and intends to step aside at the conclusion of the Biden administration.
At that point, new leadership under President-elect Donald Trump will grapple with managing some of the global hot spots like Syria that have vexed officials in recent months and that the NCTC has been tracking.
Holmgren cites multiple factors for why the threat is higher than before, including passions arising from the Israel-Hamas war — a conflict that he says has been a driving factor in some 45 attacks worldwide since October 2023. He also points to mass migration from the Russia-Ukraine war that has sent central Asians, some with ties to the Daesh group, to countries including Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and even the US
Around the world, officials are monitoring tensions in Africa, which Holmgren called potentially the greatest long-term threat to US security given that the Daesh group has a large footprint on the continent and is investing resources there.
He says the “most potent overseas threat facing the United States” right now is the group’s Afghanistan-based affiliate, known as Daesh-Khorasan, whose attacks include a March 2024 massacre at a Moscow theater and the August 2021 bombing that killed 13 US service members and about 170 Afghans in the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
One ongoing spot of concern is Syria, where an insurgent group named Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning offensive last month that toppled the government of President Bashar Assad.
HTS is a Sunni Islamist group that formerly had ties with Al-Qaeda, although its leader has preached religious coexistence since taking over in Damascus. The group has not plotted against US interests in recent years and has been “the most effective counterterrorism partner on the ground,” Holmgren said.
HTS has been designated by the State Department as a foreign terror organization, a label that carries severe sanctions.
Asked whether that designation would remain, Holmgren said that was a policy decision, though he noted: “They want to be perceived as being on the right side of the international community at this time when it comes to (counterterrorism). But we will continue to evaluate not just their words but also the actions that they’re undertaking.”
In an indication of Syria’s continued instability, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press last week that the US needs to keep troops there to prevent the Daesh group from reconstituting, and intelligence officials in Syria’s new de facto government already have thwarted a plan by Daesh to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in a Damascus suburb.
US officials, meanwhile, remain concerned about the possibility of Daesh gaining strength by taking over weapons left behind by Assad’s government or through a mass release of fighters who are now imprisoned.
“A large-scale prisoner release in Syria could provide a real boost in the arm for IS at a time where they have been under significant pressure,” Holmgren said.
The counterterrorism center’s focus is on international terrorism, which includes cases in the US like the New Orleans rampage in which the attacker was inspired by a group from abroad. The culprit, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, pledged his allegiance to Daesh in videos he recorded just before he drove his speeding pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street early on Jan. 1.
As of now, Holmgren said, there’s no evidence that Jabbar was communicating with any Daesh operatives overseas or guided by anyone, but given that he was a lone actor who was radicalized, “this symbolizes exactly the type of attack that we’ve warned about for some time.”
“And I think it illustrates that while we have been quite effective as a government and across administrations at disrupting plotting overseas and going after terrorist leaders, we have a lot more work to do when it comes to countering violent extremism at home, countering violent extremist propaganda abroad,” he added.
“That is ultimately what is going to be needed to prevent more attacks like the one in New Orleans,” Holmgren said.
By the same token, through vast intelligence collection, hardened defenses and overseas counterterrorism operations, the US has made the risk of another large-scale attack like Sept. 11 lower than it’s ever been.
“But if we get complacent as a country,” he warned, “it will come back to bite us.”
South Korean investigators arrest President Yoon in insurrection probe
- Yoon is the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested
- His last month’s short-lived martial law order plunged the country into turmoil
SEOUL: South Korean authorities arrested President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday over accusations of insurrection following his briefly imposed martial law.
The arrest ended a standoff between investigators and Yoon’s presidential security team, which had prevented his detention earlier this month.
The Corruption Investigation Office announced it had “executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol today at 10:33 am,” after which he was seen stepping out of the car wearing a white shirt and suit as he slipped through the CIO’s back entrance for high-ranking officials.
“I decided to answer to the CIO’s investigations in order to prevent unsavory bloodshed,” Yoon said in a pre-recorded video statement released by his lawyers following the arrest.
“That does not mean I recognize the CIO’s investigation as legitimate.”
The CIO is leading a joint probe — together with military investigators and police — to probe allegations against Yoon.
He is charged with insurrection and will be held at the Seoul Detention Center. Authorities now have 48 hours to question the president and seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.
The probe coincides with Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court. The trial began on Tuesday but hearings were adjourned minutes after it started due to Yoon’s absence.
The trial follows the National Assembly’s vote on Dec. 14 to impeach Yoon over the imposition of martial law on Dec. 3 — a move that lawmakers swiftly overturned hours after it was announced.
Yoon is the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
The CIO’s legitimacy in investigating Yoon has come under scrutiny as the president and his lawyers argue that it lacks the legal authority to investigate insurrection charges.
“The CIO does not have the right to investigate insurrection charges ... we strongly urge them to follow due legal processes,” Yoon’s lawyer and friend of 40-years, Seok Dong-hyun, said in a press conference after the president was taken into custody.
But Prof. Hong Young-ki from the Korea University School of Law told Arab News it was a matter of interpreting the law, “but the court has already confirmed the legitimacy” by approving the arrest warrant.
“The court already recognized the CIO’s jurisdiction when it issued the arrest warrant. Then who can go against the court and say that the CIO is illegitimate? How can a third party do it?” he said.
“The president wants to say that, but how can someone who was merely a prosecutor say his interpretation is more correct than that of the court? I don’t really think his argument has that much persuasive power.”
Claiming that the CIO’s investigation was illegitimate, Yoon was trying to evade arrest also during the eventually successful second attempt, which started at 4:10 a.m., with 3,000 officers surrounding his hillside house.
Buses and barbed wire were set up on the road leading to Yoon’s residence to prevent entry, while lawmakers from the president’s ruling People’s Power Party gathered at the site, tried to block the authorities, and shouted that “South Korea’s rule of law has collapsed” and that the “constitution has been destroyed.”
The opposition Democratic Party welcomed the arrest.
“A bit late, but it shows that South Korea’s governmental authority and justice is still alive,” floor leader Park Chan-dae said in a briefing.
“(Yoon’s arrest) is the first step in restoring liberal democracy and realizing the rule of law.”
South Korean investigators question President Yoon in insurrection probe
- Yoon is the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested
- His last month’s short-lived martial law order plunged the country into turmoil
Seoul: South Korean investigators began questioning President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday after arresting him over accusations of insurrection following his briefly imposed martial law.
The arrest ended a standoff between investigators and Yoon’s presidential security team, which had prevented his detention earlier this month.
The Corruption Investigation Office announced it had “executed an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol today at 10:33 am,” after which he was seen stepping out of the car wearing a white shirt and suit as he slipped through the CIO’s back entrance for high-ranking officials.
“I decided to answer to the CIO’s investigations in order to prevent unsavory bloodshed,” Yoon said in a pre-recorded video statement released by his lawyers following the arrest.
“That does not mean I recognize the CIO’s investigation as legitimate.”
The CIO is leading a joint probe — together with military investigators and police — to probe allegations against Yoon.
He is charged with insurrection and will be held at the Seoul Detention Center. Authorities now have 48 hours to question the president and seek a warrant to detain him for up to 20 days.
The probe coincides with Yoon’s impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court. The trial began on Tuesday, but hearings were adjourned minutes after it started due to Yoon’s absence.
The trial follows the National Assembly’s vote on Dec. 14 to impeach Yoon over the imposition of martial law on Dec. 3 — a move that lawmakers swiftly overturned hours after it was announced.
Yoon is the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
The CIO’s legitimacy in investigating Yoon has come under scrutiny as the president and his lawyers argue that it lacks the legal authority to investigate insurrection charges.
“The CIO does not have the right to investigate insurrection charges ... We strongly urge them to follow due legal processes,” Yoon’s lawyer and friend of 40 years, Seok Dong-hyun, said in a press conference after the president was taken into custody.
Prof. Hong Young-ki from the Korea University School of Law told Arab News it was a matter of interpreting the law, “but the court has already confirmed the legitimacy” by approving the arrest warrant.
“The court already recognized the CIO’s jurisdiction when it issued the arrest warrant. Then who can go against the court and say that the CIO is illegitimate? How can a third party do it?” he said.
“The president wants to say that, but how can someone who was merely a prosecutor say his interpretation is more correct than that of the court? I don’t really think his argument has that much persuasive power.”
Claiming that the CIO’s investigation was illegitimate, Yoon tried to evade arrest also during the eventually successful second attempt, which started at 4:10 a.m., with 3,000 officers surrounding his hillside house.
Buses and barbed wire were set up on the road leading to Yoon’s residence to prevent entry, while lawmakers from the president’s ruling People’s Power Party gathered at the site, tried to block the authorities, and shouted that “South Korea’s rule of law has collapsed” and that the “constitution has been destroyed.”
The opposition Democratic Party welcomed the arrest.
“A bit late, but it shows that South Korea’s governmental authority and justice is still alive,” floor leader Park Chan-dae said in a briefing.
“(Yoon’s arrest) is the first step in restoring liberal democracy and realizing the rule of law.”
Dense fog over Indian capital delays flights, trains
- Visibility at Delhi’s main airport was between zero to 100 meters, over 40 trains across northern India delayed
- Delhi was ranked as the world’s most polluted city in live rankings by Swiss group IQAir on Wednesday
Dense fog and cold weather delayed train and flight departures in several parts of northern India, including its capital New Delhi, on Wednesday.
India’s weather office issued an orange alert for Delhi, the second highest warning level, forecasting dense to very dense fog in many areas.
Visibility at Delhi’s main airport was between zero to 100 meters (328.08 ft), the weather office said, and more than 40 trains across northern India were delayed because of fog, local media reported.
Some aircraft departures from Delhi were delayed, airport authorities said on social media platform X, warning that flights lacking the CAT III navigation system that enables landing despite low visibility would face difficulties. Delhi’s main airport handles about 1,400 flights every day.
“Low visibility and fog over Delhi may lead to some delays,” the country’s largest airline IndiGo said in a social media post.
Local media showed images of vehicles crawling along highways through the fog, and people huddled indoors as the temperature dipped to 7 degrees Celsius (44.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Delhi was ranked as the world’s most polluted city in live rankings by Swiss group IQAir on Wednesday, with a reading of 254, ranked as “very unhealthy.”
The Indian capital has been battling poor air quality and smog since the beginning of winter.
