Timeline of the Fatal Shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the Hunt for His Killer
NEW YORK (AP)— After days of combing through security footage, following up on tips, and even deploying scuba divers to the bottom of a lake, police announced Monday the arrest of a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare's CEO outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel last week.
The manhunt began in the hours after Brian Thompson was shot on the sidewalk early Wednesday morning, with the accused shooter fleeing the scene and riding a bike to Central Park before taking a taxi to a bus depot that serves several adjacent states.
On Monday morning, police arrested 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after receiving a tip from a McDonald's. Authorities claim Mangione was carrying a revolver believed to have been used to shoot Thompson.
Here's all we know so far about the shooting and the subsequent search.
NOV 24:
10:11 p.m. — The suspected shooter arrives in New York City via Greyhound bus at the Port Authority Terminal. The bus left Atlanta and stopped at six or seven locations before arriving in New York. Police could not immediately establish where he boarded the bus.
The man then takes a taxi to the New York Hilton Midtown, where he spends around 30 minutes.
Around 11 p.m., the man takes a taxi to the HI New York City Hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave., where he remains until the morning of the shooting. He shows an ID that police believe is forged. Police claimed two housemates in a shared room with bunkbeds never saw his face because he wore a mask.
When interacting with an employee in the hostel lobby, he temporarily removed his facemask and smiled, as captured on surveillance photographs extensively shared by police.
NOV29
The man was checked out of the hostel, which automatically checks visitors out if they do not arrive at the counter by a set time. Police do not believe he remained elsewhere and returned to the same hostel the next day.
DEC 4
Around 5:30 a.m., the suspected shooter departs the hostel well before daybreak.
5:41 a.m. — He is seen on camera walking back and forth between 54th Street and Sixth Avenue, near the Hilton hotel where United Healthcare's parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is hosting its annual investor conference.
Because he arrived at the Hilton so quickly, police believe he rode his bicycle there. "Could he have taken the bicycle? "We're still investigating these issues," stated NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
He stopped by a neighboring Starbucks and bought a bottle of water and at least one energy snack before returning to the motel.
6:44 a.m. — He shoots Thompson as the CEO walks in alone, on foot, from a hotel across the street. The man flees.
6:48 a.m. — A man enters Central Park on a bicycle from the 60th Street and Center Drive entrance. Police suspect he discarded a gray backpack in the park, away from security cameras.
6:56 a.m. — He exits the park via West 77th Street and Central Park West, still riding his bicycle.
6:58 a.m. — He passes another camera on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue while still riding his bicycle.
7 a.m. – He's on 86th Street, but not with the bicycle.
7:04 a.m. — He boards a taxi heading northbound at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
7:30 a.m. — He's near the George Washington Bridge and bus terminus. It provides commuter service to New Jersey with Greyhound connections to Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington.
Following the incident, detectives discovered the phrases "delay," "deny," and "depose" scribbled in permanent
marker on ammunition near the scene. Critics of the insurance sector use a term similar to these phrases.
DEC 6
Kenny and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch say authorities suspect the gunman fled New York City on a bus. Investigators believe he visited the George Washington Bridge Bus Station but have not located any video of him leaving or boarding a bus.
"It could be a disgruntled employee or a disgruntled client," Kenny adds in a briefing.
Police locate what they believe is the man's backpack. Its contents have not been disclosed.
DEC 7
Police continue to investigate Central Park, with scuba divers seen probing a pond. The NYPD has released more photographs of the suspected shooter near and in the rear seat of a taxi. In all photographs, he is wearing a blue medical-style face mask.
Despite retrieving a fingerprint from the Starbucks transaction and submitting things for DNA testing, authorities have yet to publicly identify the offender.
DEC 8
Scuba divers are once again spotted at a Central Park pond. Police declined to comment on the investigation.
DEC 9
9:14 a.m. — Police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, are dispatched to a McDonald's after receiving reports of a guy matching the description of the shooting suspect.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, was arrested on unrelated charges, according to the Altoona Police Department.
Mangione had a gun suspected to have been used in last Wednesday's massacre, as well as notes expressing "ill will toward corporate America," Kenny said on Monday. According to Kenny, he also carried clothing and a mask identical to those worn by the gunman, as well as a phony New Jersey ID that matched the one used to check into the Manhattan hostel.