Shapiro: UnitedHealthcare shooter ‘not a hero’

(The Center Square) – The manhunt for the person who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk five days ago ended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.

Described as a “vigilante” jaded by the commercial health insurance industry, Gov. Josh Shapiro said online support for the accused, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, leaves him sickened.

“I have no tolerance nor should anyone for one man using an illegal ghost gun to murder someone because he thinks his opinion matters most,” he said during a Monday evening news conference in Hollidaysburg. “This killer is not a hero. He should not be hailed.”

An employee at the restaurant called police Monday morning after spotting Mangione, whose description matched the surveillance footage captured across New York City in the days leading up to the crime, sitting alone with a laptop. He gave officers false identification and was arrested for forgery and carrying a firearm without a license, among a slew of other charges.

In a criminal complaint, Mangione began shaking after law enforcement asked him if he’d been to New York City recently. A search of his backpack recovered a 3-D printed firearm with a suppressor, similar to one used by the killer in CCTV footage that recorded the shooting just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

Shapiro said Mangione will face murder charges back in New York.