New York City's newly appointed Harvard graduate police commissioner Jessica Tisch faced a critical decision just days into her role as officers frantically tried to track Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Following the December 4 fatal shooting in midtown Manhattan, police worked tirelessly, reviewing surveillance footage from every available camera in the vicinity, according to the Wall Street Journal. They also used the NYPD's Domain Awareness System, a tool Tisch had previously introduced to the department. This high-tech system provides officers with real-time access to police cameras, license plate readers, and private security camera networks across the city, aiding in their investigation.
Outsmarting the Killer
The footage played a key role in piecing together the movements of Mangione before and after the fatal shooting. Police revealed that Mangione arrived in Manhattan on November 24, by bus from Atlanta to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
He checked into a hostel and later fled the crime scene by cycling through Central Park and escaping back through the Port Authority.
A breakthrough came when Mangione, 26, briefly removed his mask while trying to flirt with someone at a Manhattan hostel, providing a clear look at his face.
At that point, Tisch, 43, had to take a critical decision: whether to release the image to the public and risk alerting Mangione that authorities were closing in on him.
With concerns mounting that he may have left New York City, Tisch, along with Police Chief Joseph Kenny, chose to release the surveillance image, hoping it would lead to someone identifying him.
"We had reason to believe he had left New York City and I wanted to get that photo out to a national audience," said Tisch, whose family controls the Loews Corp.
The plan paid off when employees and customers at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, identified Mangione from the released photo last Monday.
Authorities arrested him on firearm-related charges, and also found a 3D-printed pistol and a black silencer loaded with a Glock magazine containing six 9mm full-metal jacket bullets from him.
Nabbing the Assassin
New York police later confirmed that the ammunition matched the rounds used in the murder of Thompson. Mangione had allegedly labeled the bullets with the words "depose," "deny," and "defend."
In addition, reports revealed that Mangione was carrying a manifesto detailing his grievances against UnitedHealthcare. "To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, [and] a lot of patience," he allegedly wrote in the manifesto, according to the Daily Beast.
He expressed "respect" for federal investigators and apologized for any "trauma" he may have caused, though he appeared to justify his alleged actions. "Frankly these parasites had it coming," the manifesto wrote.
Authorities now say that there is no proof to suggest Mangione was ever a client of the insurance company.
However, Chief Kelly told NBC New York that the manifesto does reference the company as the "fifth largest corporation in America," which would make it the nation's largest healthcare organization.
"So that's possibly why he targeted the company," Kelly suggested.
Mangione is currently facing second-degree murder charges in New York and is contesting his extradition to the city.
