NY gunman had manifesto railing against health insurance

NEW YORK

The man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street last week was found carrying a handwritten manifesto criticizing the U.S. healthcare system, New York police revealed Tuesday.

The manifesto provides the first potential motive in the case, investigators said.

The nationwide manhunt ended on Dec. 9 when 26 year-old Luigi Mangione, reportedly from a wealthy family and a University of Pennsylvania graduate, was apprehended at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

According to court documents, officers found Mangione in possession of a "ghost gun," which was capable of firing 9mm rounds and equipped with components possibly manufactured using a 3D printer.

New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny stated on ABC’s Good Morning America that Mangione’s manifesto expressed frustration and anger toward the U.S. healthcare system. The writings described the system as expensive, inefficient, and inadequate compared to global standards, according to Kenny.

Kenny said Mangione decried how the U.S. health care system is among the most expensive in the world and yet the country has a lower life expectancy than other developed nations.

According to CNN, a document recovered when Mangione was arrested included the phrase "these parasites had it coming."

Police said written admissions tied to the crime were discovered on Mangione. Investigators have not confirmed reports that bullet casings at the scene were inscribed with words such as “delay” and “deny,” terminology associated with insurance claim rejections.

X users have scoured Mangione's posts for potential motives. His header photo includes an X-ray of a spine with bolts attached. Earlier this year Mangione had a back surgery.

Finding a political ideology that fits neatly onto the right-left divide has proved elusive, though he had written a review of Ted Kaczynski's manifesto on online site Goodreads, calling it "prescient."

Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, carried out multiple bombings in the U.S. from 1978 to 1995, in a campaign he said was aimed at halting the advance of modern society and technology.