UnitedHealthcare CEO murder latest: Police take in person of interest in Pennsylvania

The man arrested on local charges in Altoona, Pennsylvania, possibly over giving police false identification, was said to be carrying a manifesto, law enforcement sources said.

According to the New York Post and The New York Times, he allegedly had a “manifesto” on him when he was taken into custody by police on Monday morning.

Investigators also believe he was carrying a ghost gun — the Frankenstein weapon being put together with parts sold online — that matches the gun believed to have been used in the shooting, a senior law enforcement official told The Times.

The man who police had detained for questioning in Altoona, Pennsylvania, has been arrested on local charges, possibly in connection with presenting false identification to authorities, a senior law enforcement official told The New York Times.

He would have to be extradited if he was charged in New York, according to the official.

The man who has been detained for questioning by police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, was spotted by an “elderly patron” in a McDonald’s restaurant, sources say.

The man, who remains anonymous, was identified based on a tip after being spotted at the fats food outlet which led authorities to hold the man for questioning, according to The New York Times.

He was said to have had a gun, a silencer and false identification cards similar to those believed to be held by the killer used in New York City, one law enforcement officials said. He has neither been arrested nor charged.

Police are said to have held a man in Altoona, Pennsylvania, for questioning after he was found with a similar gun to that used by Brian Thompson’s killer, according to reports.

The New York City Police Department is said to be sending detectives to the region, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

It is too soon to determine if the man is connected to the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, who was gunned down on Wednesday morning outside a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan, according to NBC New York.

A newly-released video appears to show Brian Thompson’s killer loitering across the street from the hotel moments before the health insurance executive was slain.

The video, which has not previously been seen publicly and was obtained by ABC, seemingly shows the masked gunman standing at the opposite side of the street to a Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

The assailant is said to then spot Thompson and crosses the road, before jumping from behind a car and opening fire on the unexpecting UnitedHealth CEO.

The footage appears to support the police narrative that the attack was targeted.

The CEO of UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealth’s parent company, said the health insurance giant will continue to prevent “unnecessary care,” according to a report.

Andrew Witty made the claims in a video address days after the death of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealth CEO, was murdered on Wednesday.

“Our role is a critical role, and we make sure that care is safe, appropriate, and is delivered when people need it,” he said in his leaked remarks which were obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein, and published by the New York Post.

“We guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable.”

Witty is said to have encouraged employees to “tune out” the criticism surrounding the company.

A private funeral for Brian Thompson is set to be held on Monday, a source familiar with the plans told NBC News.

The ceremony is expected to be held less than a week after the 50-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO was killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Wednesday.

The search for the gunman who shot dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is now into its sixth day, with the New York Police Department having released two new photographs of a person of interest pictured in the back of a taxi cab and walking alongside it.

The suspect is believed to have traveled to New York City on a Greyhound bus 10 days before he targeted Thompson, 50, a father of two, who was shot at point-blank range near the New York Hilton Midtown on Wednesday morning just before a scheduled investor meeting.

Katie Hawkinson and Madeline Sherratt detail everything we know about Thompson’s murder and the escape of his killer.

Police have gleaned a treasure trove of evidence and intel but, as the manhunt for Brian Thompson’s killer entered its sixth day on Monday morning, the suspect remains at large.

On Thursday, police revealed photographs of the assailant’s unmasked face inside the HI New York City Hostel – including one photograph of the man smiling while apparently flirting with a female employee behind the desk. On Saturday evening, the NYPD released two more photographs of the suspect in a taxi, this time sporting a blue medical face mask.

Authorities have gathered security footage between 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. from last Wednesday, tracking the suspect’s movements before he disappeared.

While searching a wooded area at the southern end of Central Park on Friday evening, police discovered a gray backpack nestled between two boulders containing two items: a Tommy Hilfiger jacket and Monopoly money.

By Saturday and Sunday, police deployed specialised teams across NYC of divers and gun-detecting dogs to look for the murder weapon.

A Starbucks water bottle, which contains the assailant’s DNA and partial fingerprints, and a discarded mobile phone were discovered in an alleyway near the crime scene on Sixth Avenue.

The killer also left behind a cryptic message at the scene, with the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” inscribed on live rounds and shell casing left outside.