ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA—The high-stakes, cross-country manhunt for the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ended not in a dramatic police siege, but in a mundane transaction at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, as revealed by extraordinary police body camera footage shown this week at a pretrial evidence hearing.
The video documents the tense, low-key confrontation where two Altoona police officers approached the suspect, Luigi Mangione, with casual questions about his name and travel, carefully avoiding any mention of the murder that had gripped the nation.
The Tip and the Low-Key Approach
The Dec. 9, 2024, arrest came five days after Thompson was fatally shot in Manhattan. A crucial tip from a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee, who recognized a customer resembling the widely publicized suspect, brought officers Joseph Detwiler and Tyler Frye to the fast-food restaurant on East Plank Road.
- The Confrontation: The officers initially adopted a low-key, non-accusatory tone, claiming only that someone had reported the customer—Mangione, wearing a medical mask—as looking “suspicious.”
- The Lie: When asked for identification, the 27-year-old suspect provided a phony New Jersey driver’s license bearing the name “Mark Rosario,” a false identity the alleged gunman had used days earlier at a New York hostel.
- The Question: In a key moment revealed in the footage, rookie Officer Frye attempted to engage Mangione with small talk, asking, “So what’s going on? What brings you up here from New Jersey?” Mangione reportedly mumbled that “he didn’t want to talk” but eventually claimed he was “just trying to use the Wi-Fi.”
Officer Detwiler testified he deliberately kept the conversation calm, even whistling over the holiday music playing in the McDonald’s, to prevent Mangione from realizing the true nature of their presence.
The Discovery and the Debate
The officers continued the interaction for roughly 20 minutes before informing Mangione of his right to remain silent, all while waiting for backup and attempting to verify the bogus ID.
- A Nervous Subject: Officers testified they noticed Mangione’s fingers shaking and that he avoided eye contact, confirming their suspicion. Officer Detwiler, who had closely followed the news, told a supervisor he was “100% sure” they had the killer.
- The Arrest: Once the “Mark Rosario” ID was determined to be fraudulent, officers confronted Mangione, who ultimately provided his real name. He was then arrested on forgery and false identification charges.
- Crucial Evidence: The subsequent search of Mangione’s backpack yielded critical evidence, including a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the firearm used in the killing, a notebook detailing his disdain for health insurers and ideas about targeting an executive, and a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of wet underwear.
Mangione’s defense team is currently arguing in court that the evidence seized from the backpack, as well as statements Mangione made before being read his Miranda rights, should be excluded from his state and federal murder trials because the officers’ continued questioning constituted an illegal interrogation.
The release of the body camera video provides the clearest view yet of the final, pivotal moments of a major manhunt that ended with a simple police request for a name in a busy restaurant.