A customer at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was arrested Monday, said many people were wondering if the suspicious-looking person there was the wanted suspect.
A man who regularly visits that McDonald's told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia on Tuesday he was there Monday at the same time as Luigi Mangione, 26, who has since been charged in connection to Thompson's murder Dec. 4 outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
He said many people, including the employee who contacted the police on Mangione, seemed to be aware of the manhunt for Thompson's killer and were wondering if Mangione was the wanted suspect.
"From what I was told, the worker that took his orders, she said his eyes and his eyebrows – she just thought it was him," Larry, who did not provide his last name, told WPVI. "I think she approached two of the managers and said, 'I think the shooter from New York's in here.'"
Larry said he didn't report it, but a friend thought he recognized Mangione, too.
"We pretty much laughed about it like, 'Oh yeah, sure. OK.' But it turned out it was him," Larry said.
Mangione was taken into custody Monday and arrested on charges of lying to police about his identity and possession of a gun without a license, which police said was a 3D-printed gun and suppressor. Later Monday, Mangione was charged in New York with one count of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
He remains in custody at State Correctional Institution Huntingdon in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, according to WPVI, and is fighting extradition to New York.
"We say this all the time, if you see something, say something," said New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch, according to WPVI. "Do something, and this case that McDonald's employee did just that, and we are grateful as the city to that person."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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