New York City’s new Harvard-educated police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, was forced to make a crucial decision within two weeks of taking office as police began searching for the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Police officers worked around the clock in the immediate aftermath of the December 4 shooting in downtown Manhattan, searching all video cameras in the area. according to the Wall Street Journal.
They also obtained footage through the NYPD’s Domain Awareness System – which Tisch previously implemented at the department to give officers real-time access to police cameras, license plate readers and private security cameras around the city.
That footage helped build a timeline of suspected killer Luigi Mangione’s movements before and after the shooting.
Police said he checked into a hostel on Nov. 24 after arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan on a bus from Atlanta and fled the scene by riding his bicycle through Central Park and escaping through the Port Authority.
The goldmine finally came when Mangione, 26, briefly took off his mask at a Manhattan hostel to flirt with someone.
At that point, Tisch, 43, had to decide whether he wanted to risk making the image public and letting Mangione know that police were targeting him.
But as concerns grew that he was fleeing New York City, Tisch and Police Chief Joseph Kenny decided to publish the surveillance photo in hopes that someone would recognize him.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch was forced to make a crucial decision less than two weeks after taking office as police began searching for the gunman who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
26-year-old Luigi Mangione is now charged with manslaughter in this case
“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 efforts proved successful when staff and customers at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania last Monday recognized Mangione as the suspect in the photo.
He was subsequently taken into state custody on gun charges, with police saying he was carrying a 3D printed handgun and a black silencer loaded with one Glock magazine containing six 9mm all-metal bullets.
New York police officers were later able to match that ammunition to that of Thompson’s death – when Mangione allegedly labeled “depose,” “deny” and “dedefen.”
Mangione also reportedly had a manifesto outlining his grievances against UnitedHealthcare.
‘To spare you a lengthy investigation, I clearly state that I have not collaborated with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some basic social engineering, basic CAD, (and) a lot of patience,” he reportedly wrote in the manifesto, according to the Daily Beast.
He went on to say he had “respect” for federal investigators and apologized for causing any “trauma” but appeared to defend his alleged actions.
“To be honest, these parasites already expected it,” the manifesto wrote.
Officers worked around the clock in the immediate aftermath of the Dec. 4 shooting in downtown Manhattan, searching all video cameras in the area.
The goldmine came when Mangione briefly took off his mask at a Manhattan hostel to flirt
The report also claimed that the United States had the “most expensive health care system in the world,” but dismissed the system as giving America only 42nd in life expectancy.
Police now say they have “no indications” that Mangione was ever a customer of the insurance company.
But Chief Kelly listed on NBC New York that the manifesto “states that it is the fifth largest company in America, which would make it the largest health care organization in America.
“So that might be why he targeted the company,” Kelly suggested.
Mangione is now charged with second-degree murder in New York and is fighting extradition to the Big Apple.
It is believed he targeted Thompson (pictured) because UnitedHealthcare is the largest insurer in the United States
He has also hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former assistant district attorney who helped prosecute the Harvey Weinstein case in New York.
She is considered a veteran of the New York State legal system, with a source telling CNN Friedman Agnifilo that she knows “every hallway, every judge, every clerk in the courthouse.”
“She has as much experience as anyone, especially in state court.”
Meanwhile, New York officials hope to get him back with a so-called gubernatorial order.
It is an order signed by the governor of a state where a fugitive is fleeing after a crime. The governor of that state acts at the official request of the governor of the state where the crime occurred.
In this case, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to apply for a governor’s order from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, but the process could take more than a month.