Police officers in Pennsylvania immediately recognized the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect in the back of a local McDonald’s.
In a press conference on Monday evening, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hailed Altoona Police Officer Tyler Frye as a hero for his swift action in recognizing Luigi Mangione, 26.
“I want to say a special thanks to Officer Tyler Frye of the Altoona Police Department. Officer Frye was about six months into his time serving his fellow people here in Pennsylvania, and he acted swiftly,” Shapiro said.
“He acted with smarts, and he acted with calm. You know, safety often turns on the strength of the relationship between the community and law enforcement,” he said. “We have that strong relationship here in Altoona, and it was proven here today.”
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Frye said that he and his partner immediately recognized the suspect – who has gained national attention following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
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“We just didn’t think twice about it. We knew that was our guy,” he said.
Mangione, the suspect in the shooting death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, started shaking when police in Altoona, Pennsylvania approached him Monday at a McDonald’s, court documents revealed.
He was wearing a blue medical mask and was looking at a silver laptop computer when officers approached him at the fast-food chain, court documents say.
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Officers asked Mangione to pull down his mask and officers immediately recognized him as the suspect wanted for Thompson’s murder in NYC. Officers had seen photos of the suspect from media sources, court documents say.
Mangione gave officers a fake ID with the name Mark Rosario – police ran the ID and determined it to be fake. Officers then asked Mangione why he lied.
He replied, “I clearly shouldn’t have,” according to court documents. Mangione was then placed into custody.
Officers found a black 3D-printed pistol and a black silencer in Mangione’s backpack, court documents say. The pistol had a metal slide and a plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel.
Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had “ill will toward corporate America,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
The pistol had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds, documents said. Police said the silencer was also 3D printed.
Mangione has been charged in Pennsylvania with several crimes, according to court documents.
Asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could “answer that at a future date.”
He was charged with forgery, firearms not to be carried without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime and false identification to law enforcement authorities, according to a police criminal complaint.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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