Eric Adams speaking after man apprehended ‘in connection with New York assassination’ is named

A man apprehended in connection with the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been named.

The insurance executive was gunned down on Wednesday in New York by a masked man who escaped on foot before mounting a bike and disappearing into Central Park. Officials later suggested he had fled the city by bus.

Luigi Mangione, 26, was detained in a McDonald’s this morning carrying identification with his name on it as well as fake IDs allegedly connected to the killing, law enforcement officers told The New York Times.

With the manhunt now in its sixth day, the 26-year-old was found in possession of a “manifesto” and a similar gun to the one used in the assassination, is being held for questioning by authorities in Altoona, Pennsylvania, multiple outlets reported.

Mr Mangione has been arrested on local charges, The New York Times reported, and the NYPD is said to be sending detectives to the central Pennsylvania city, which lies 100 miles east of Pittsburgh.

The New York Police Department had no update for the media, while the Altoona Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Eric Adams, the New York mayor, is due to provide an update at 1.30pm EST.

CNN reported that the man was travelling by bus in the Keystone State when he was stopped by police, who uncovered the gun, a silencer and a number of fake IDs.

The man was allegedly recognised by a McDonald’s worker who called the police.

The pistol reportedly used by the assassin who gunned down Mr Thompson was a VP9: a weapon sold to vets to put down wounded animals adapted from a Second World War spy gun. They can be bought online for around $5,700.

The man was also found with a handwritten manifesto criticising healthcare companies for valuing profits over care, officials told The New York Times.

Last week, detectives investigating the killing recovered DNA samples from a water bottle, believed to have been discarded by the masked killer as he fled the scene, as well as bullets.

A Starbucks coffee cup used by the shooter was also analysed for DNA evidence, sources told The New York Post.

If the DNA samples can be matched to the man being questioned, they could prove the identity of the killer.

Meanwhile, if the weapon he was allegedly found carrying can be matched to ballistics of the bullets recovered from the scene, it could prove to be the decisive evidence required to charge the man.

Police have declined to confirm reports that shell casings left at the scene after the CEO was shot were etched with the words “delay” and “deny” – language often used by insurance companies to reject claims.

CNN reported that one of the identity documents the man is carrying could match the fake ID used by the killer to check into a hostel the day before carrying out the attack.

A CCTV image of the suspect grinning at a member of staff at the hostel earned him the tabloid nickname “the smiling assassin”.

Joe Kenny, New York’s chief of detectives, told The New York Post on Saturday that  the killer may have been a “disgruntled employee or disgruntled client” of UnitedHealthcare.

The masked shooter arrived in New York at around 9pm on a cross-country bus which set off from Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov 24.

After fleeing the scene of the shooting, the killer left the park at around 77th Street, while still on the bicycle, Mr Kenny told CNN. He was then seen walking further north, before getting a cab to a bus station near 178th Street and Broadway.

Mr Kenny said the police had video of him entering a bus terminal the day of the attack, but not exiting, which led to the theory he had skipped town.

“Those buses are interstate buses,” Mr Kenny said. “That’s why we believe he may have left New York City.”

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