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UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect’s timeline before, during, after the brazen murder

NYPD

(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, a person of interest in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was taken into custody on Monday in Pennsylvania, nearly one week after the “brazen, targeted” shooting outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Wednesday, police said.

Here is a timeline of the suspect’s whereabouts before, during and after the shooting:

Nov. 24

The killer entered New York City by bus on Nov. 24, when a surveillance camera at Port Authority Bus Terminal caught his arrival at 9 p.m., law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The inbound bus originated in Atlanta but it was not immediately clear where the suspect boarded.

He likely checked into a hostel on New York City’s Upper West Side that day and later checked out, sources said.

Nov. 30

The suspect likely checked back into the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side on Nov. 30, sources said.

Dec. 4 at 5 a.m.

At 5 a.m., nearly two hours before the shooting, the suspect was seen in surveillance footage outside the hostel on the Upper West Side, holding what appears to be an e-bike battery.

6:15 a.m.

At 6:15 a.m., surveillance footage reviewed by police shows someone who appears to be the suspect leaving a 57th Street subway station near the crime scene, police sources told ABC News.

6:19 a.m.

New cleared CCTV video shows a man who appears to be the suspect walking west on 55th Street at 6:19 a.m. The video shows him stoop down as he appears to momentarily drop an object on the garbage before continuing to walk.

Before the shooting

Sometime before the shooting, the suspect is spotted at a Starbucks. The exact time is not clear.

6:29 a.m.

The suspect appeared to walk past a parking lot on West 54th Street at 6:29 a.m. — across the street some 50 meters from the site of the shooting.

6:44 a.m.

At 6:44 a.m., the masked gunman fatally shot Brian Thompson in front of the north entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown.

“The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “It appears that the gun malfunctions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.”

The shooter fled on foot into an alley, where a phone believed to be linked to the suspect was later recovered, police sources said.

Time unknown

The suspect then fled north on a bike and rode into Central Park, police said.

Time unknown

After making his getaway on a bike, the suspect exited Central Park at 77th Street and Central Park West.

At 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, the suspect ditched the bike and took a taxi to the Port Authority bus facility at 178th Street.

Police believe he boarded a bus there and left New York City.

Dec. 8

On Dec. 8, FBI agents and NYPD detectives spoke to Mangione’s mother after San Francisco police informed them she had filed a missing persons report and Mangione’s photo seemed to match the suspect photo, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Dec. 9

On Dec. 9, 26-year-old Mangione was identified and taken into custody in Altoona, Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Prior to his arrest, Mangione was on a Greyhound bus traveling through Altoona, sources said. When he got off the bus and walked into a McDonald’s, a witness recognized him from the images of the suspect circulated by police.

Dec. 17

On Dec. 17, the Manhattan district attorney announced new charges against Mangione, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.

He is also charged in New York with: two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

Mangione remains in the custody of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections pending his extradition to New York.

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World news

North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk adapting after ‘serious losses,’ Ukraine says

ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)

(LONDON) — Ukraine’s intelligence services released new information Tuesday about the conduct of North Korean troops now fighting alongside Russian forces in the western Russian region of Kursk, which since August has been a key front of Moscow’s war on its neighbor.

U.S. and Ukrainian estimates suggest there are between 10,000 and 12,000 North Korean troops currently inside Russia, with their focus on the Kursk region. Ukrainian and American officials now say North Korean forces are actively engaged in fighting and taking casualties.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) this week reported at least 30 North Korean troops killed and wounded in Kursk.

On Tuesday, the GUR said North Korean forces were taking additional security measures to try to blunt the threat of drone strikes.

“After serious losses, North Korean units began setting up additional observation posts to detect drones of the security and defense forces of Ukraine,” the GUR wrote in a post to its official Telegram channel.

The directorate said North Korean troops gather in groups of between 20 and 30 soldiers before launching attacks, moving “to the concentration area in small groups of up to six servicemen” and using red tape for identification.

“The constant accumulation of assault groups by the personnel of the DPRK army in the Kursk region indicates that Moscow does not want to lose the pace of offensive actions,” the GUR added, using an acronym for the country’s official name of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The Security Service of Ukraine, meanwhile, claimed on Tuesday to have intercepted a phone call between a nurse at a hospital near Moscow and her husband — a soldier fighting at the front.

In two days, the nurse said, more than 200 wounded North Korean servicemen were brought to one of the Russian hospitals near Moscow.

“Are they elite, these Koreans?” the nurse asked in the purported recording, which ABC News cannot independently verify. “We are freeing up certain wards for them.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told a Tuesday briefing that the U.S. assesses “that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk alongside Russian forces.”

“We do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded,” he added, though declined to provide specific numbers.

“I would say certainly in the realm of dozens, several dozens,” Kirby added when pressed. The North Korean forces are now also moving “from the second line to the front line,” Kirby said.

An unnamed senior U.S. official, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that a couple hundred North Korean troops had been killed or wounded while fighting in Kursk.

The North Korean deployment followed more than two years of closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, a relationship that previously saw North Korean munitions sent westwards to support Russian operations in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s foreign partners have condemned what White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby called a “dramatic move.”

Both the U.S. and European Union this week introduced additional sanctions on individuals and entities they said are involved in North Korean military assistance to Russia.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Entertainment

Timothée Chalamet on Bob Dylan’s tweet about ‘A Complete Unknown’: ‘A huge moment of affirmation’

Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

The Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet, tells the story of a 19-year-old Dylan as he arrives in New York in the early ’60s and gets immersed in the folk music scene, through his controversial electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Chalamet tells ABC News looking at footage of Dylan’s performance at the festival, it’s easy to see an artist coming into his own. 

“I see an artist who’s pursuing the path that he sees in front of him instinctually,” Chalamet says. “That’s not taking no for an answer, that won’t be bullied into doing what he doesn’t want to do, and perseveres through that vision … even through, perhaps, those who support him feeling let down, and following that vision through.”

The film also follows Dylan’s personal life, including relationships with Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro, and a character named Sylvie Russo, who’s played by Elle Fanning and is based on one of Dylan’s real exes, Suze Rotolo. 

“She knew him before the fame and before everything and loved him in a very pure way,” Fanning says of her character, noting she thinks they didn’t last because “that just wasn’t her path in life.”

A Complete Unknown opens Dec. 25 and already has the stamp of approval from Dylan, who posted a tweet calling Chalamet a “brilliant actor.”

Chalamet says Dylan’s tweet was “a huge moment of affirmation … because he’s a man of few words.”

“You know, take that moment of affirmation when you’re a young artist, you’re kind of jumping off the mountain,” he says. “So when one of these greats looks down from the mountaintop and pats you on the back in some way, regardless of the movie, it was a great feeling.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

World news

Trump’s return to White House creates uncertainty for Israelis and Palestinians

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — The upcoming change in the White House is sparking uncertainty for the Middle East. President-elect Donald Trump might be a familiar face (and a historically friendly one for the Israelis), but what he will do to address the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories remains unclear.

During his first term, Trump moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a deeply symbolic show of support for Israel. The decision created anger among Palestinians, since it effectively recognized the city as Israel’s capital.

Jerusalem lies at the heart of the near-century-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, since it stands as a powerful political and religious symbol for both sides. Palestinian protests over the move spread to Gaza and the West Bank, turning deadly as demonstrators clashed with the Israeli military.

Many Israelis welcome Trump’s return to the White House. In his first term, Trump became the first Western leader to officially recognize Israel’s control over the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in 1967. And, as a thank you, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renamed a planned settlement in the area “Trump Heights” in 2019.

Some members of the Israeli government hope Trump will go a step further when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20. Days after Trump won the presidential election, Bezalel Smotrich — Israel’s far-right finance minister — announced at a press conference that he’s ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the West Bank.

“I intend, with God’s help, to lead a government decision that says the government of Israel will work with the new administration of President Trump and the international community to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” he said in Hebrew.

Smotrich referred to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, a reference to ancient Israelite kingdoms as some Israelis assert that the area is a historic Jewish homeland.

Smotrich’s plan would effectively cement the West Bank as Israeli territory, despite the occupied land being part of what would form a Palestinian state.

Official U.S. policy has always been in favor of a two-state solution, meaning it supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. Trump’s appointment of Mike Huckabee — the former governor of Arkansas and a staunch supporter of Israel’s expansion ambitions — as ambassador to Israel has thrown continued commitment to that policy into question.

In the West Bank village of Al-Makhrour, a Christian area west of Bethlehem, local woman Alice Kasiya is holding out hope for better days under Trump. Her family’s land was seized by Israeli settlers at the end of July. In a video posted to social media, she said 50 Israeli soldiers sealed off the area as bulldozers drove through.

“He’s a business guy. He had many peace agreements with other countries before, in his presidential time,” she told ABC News. “And I know everyone says no, it will, it will be worse with him, but I believe it will be better. He’s a good guy.”

Kasiya, who’s been arrested three times while protesting, said she believes the situation can’t get any worse. She noted that Israeli settler expansionism has accelerated dramatically since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

“We have seen many settlers coming and trying to take over lands, ” she said. “So it’s like cancer. They are spreading. They put the first step and they will keep moving around until they get everything slowly, slowly.”

Kasiya also warned that what happens in her area reverberates far and wide.

“It’s not for us only, it’s for the whole world,” she told ABC News. “Because this city is the Holy City that affects the whole world. If it’s not in peace, nowhere else will be living in peace.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Sports

Scoreboard roundup — 12/17/24

iStock

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Bucks 97, Thunder 81

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Sabres 1, Canadiens 6
Blue Jackets 3, Lightning 5
Kings 2, Penguins 3
Islanders 0, Hurricanes 4
Devils 4, Blues 1
Rangers 0, Predators 2
Capitals 2, Blackhawks 3
Bruins 4, Flames 3
Senators 3, Kraken 0
Jets 4, Sharks 3

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Entertainment

In brief: ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’ finds its directors and more

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse has found its directors. The third film in the popular Sony Animation Spider-Verse trilogy will be directed by Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson, the studio announced Tuesday. Both men worked in pivotal roles on the first two films of the trilogy. While the plot of the film is still being kept under wraps, they promise that they “have crafted what we feel is a very satisfying ending, and we can’t wait for fans to experience it – we’re bringing everything we’ve got!” according to Deadline …

ABC News Studios is putting out the first documentary about Luigi Mangione, the alleged shooter of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO. The one-hour special Manhunt: Luigi Mangione and the CEO Murder — A Special Edition of 20/20 will air Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. It will also be available to stream the next day on Hulu. The special features an exclusive voice recording of Mangione, where he discusses his travels through Asia, according to Variety …

Dustin Hoffman, André Holland, Alison Brie and Tom Sturridge are coming together to lead Alex Vlack‘s directorial debut film, The Revisionist. Deadline reports that the drama film, which is currently filming in Louisville, Kentucky, follows a novelist who transforms the people in her life into the characters she needs for her story …

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

US announces multiple transfers out of Guantanamo

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

(GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA) — The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday announced the transfer of two detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, bringing the total announced departures to three detainees in the last 24 hours.

Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who are both Malaysians, are being sent to their home country to serve the remainder of a five year sentence imposed in June, the Pentagon said in a press release. Officials had announced the transfer of Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu to Kenya on Tuesday.

There are now 27 detainees at Guantanamo, 15 of whom are eligible for a transfer out of the detention facility.

The two detainees whose transfers were announced Wednesday had previously been brought before a Military Commission, where they pleaded guilty to multiple offenses, including murder in violation of the law of war, the Pentagon said.

Both had agreed prior to their trials to testify against Encep Nurjaman, who the U.S. described as the alleged mastermind behind al-Qaeda attacks in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002, and in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2003, the Pentagon said.

“On June 13, 2024, in accordance with the pretrial agreements, the Convening Authority approved sentences of confinement for approximately five years for each and recommended that both men be repatriated or transferred to a third-party sovereign nation to serve the remainder of the approved sentence,” the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

In announcing the transfer of Bajabu to Kenya on Tuesday, the Pentagon said that a review board had found that his detention was “no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States.”

He was released to the Kenyan government, the U.S. said.

“The United States appreciates the support to ongoing U.S. efforts toward a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the Pentagon said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

World news

Russia detains suspect in Moscow blast that killed general

Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images

(LONDON) — Russian investigators detained a 29-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan in connection with Tuesday’s assassination of a general in Moscow, an attack in a residential neighborhood for which Ukraine claimed credit.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed by an explosive device that appears to have been hidden in a parked scooter and set off by remote control, Russian state-affiliated media TASS reported. The explosion also killed an aide accompanying him.

Kirillov was the head of Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection troops. Sources told ABC News that the Security Service of Ukraine was behind the killing. Kirillov is the most senior Russian military official assassinated by Ukraine.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, had been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence officers, Russian police said as they announced the arrest.

“On their instructions, he arrived in Moscow and received an improvised explosive device,” police said. “He placed it on an electric scooter, which he parked at the entrance of the apartment building where Igor Kirillov lived.”

The suspect had used a carshare to rent a car and installed a video camera in the vehicle, which was then parked near where the blast went off, police said.

“The footage from this camera was broadcast online to the organizers of the terrorist attack in the city of Dnipro,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said. “After a video signal was received about the exit of the servicemen from the entrance, the explosive device was remotely activated by them.”

Russia’s internal intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, or FSB, released a video of a man who they said was the suspect. In the footage, which aired on Russian state TV, the man appears to confess to the killing, saying he had been hired by Ukraine, according to the FSB.

Russia claimed the suspect had been offered payment of $100,000, along with an agreement that he would be given a European passport.

President Vladimir Putin offered condolences on Wednesday for those who were killed, according to the Kremlin. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the country’s law enforcement and intelligence services had been “working effectively.”

“It is once again confirmed that the Kyiv regime does not disdain terrorist methods of work,” Peskov said. “We clearly understand who our enemy is, what he is capable of, and this is once again proven by our actions during the special military operation.”

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti, Helena Skinner, David Brennan and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

What to know about Wisconsin’s gun laws after school shooting

Scott Olson/Getty Images

(MADISON, WI) — Wisconsin has a number of firearm-related laws in effect that limit access for children and individuals with a history of violence, even restricting individuals under 18 from possessing guns, according to state laws.

As many questions remain unanswered in the investigation into why a 15-year-old girl allegedly opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, killing a student and teacher, before apparently taking her own life, according to authorities. Police have not yet revealed whether they have uncovered the motive behind the attack.

Two students were hospitalized in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while another three students and a teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

While police say it remains unclear how the shooter obtained the gun used in the shooting, there are a number of state laws regulating firearms that could be relevant as law enforcement continues its investigation.

Wisconsin state law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from possessing a firearm.

The state has a child access prevention law in place that deems a gun owner guilty of misdemeanor if a child under 14 obtains a firearm without lawful permission from a parent or guardian or if the child discharges the firearm causing bodily harm to anyone.

Criminal penalties do not apply if the gun is securely locked or secured with a trigger lock.

Police said they are not currently looking to charge the shooter’s parents in connection with the deadly shooting.

The state does not have any laws in place that require unattended firearms to be stored a certain way and it does not require that a locking device be sold with a firearm. State laws do not require firearm owners to lock their weapons.

Wisconsin does not require background checks for gun purchases, except to obtain a concealed carry license.

While Wisconsin does not have an extreme risk protection law in place — which would strip individuals of their right to possess arms temporarily if they pose a risk to themselves or others — there are some categories of people who cannot legally possess guns.

Local leaders have called for stronger gun laws with Madison’s mayor stressing the need for gun violence prevention and saying she wants the community and country to make sure “no public official ever has to stand in this position again.”

“I hoped that this day would never come in Madison,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said.

Jill Underly, Wisconsin’s superintendent of public instruction, also emphasized the need for change, saying in a statement, “This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to protect our children and our educators to ensure that such horrors never happen again. We will not rest until we find solutions that make our schools safe.”

Anyone convicted of a felony in Wisconsin, convicted of a crime in another state that is a felony in Wisconsin or been found not guilty of a felony by reason of “mental disease or defect” is prohibited from possessing a firearm, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Council’s memorandum on gun laws.

Federal law also prohibits anyone who is a fugitive from justice or someone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing firearms.

Anyone involuntarily committed for mental illness, drug dependance or alcohol dependence is also prohibited from possessing a firearm, according the the memorandum. Anyone adjudicated incompetent by a court in a guardianship proceeding or was ordered into protective placement is also prohibited from possessing a gun.

People subject to certain temporary restraining orders relating to abuse — domestic abuse, child abuse, individual at risk and harassment — are also prohibited from possessing firearms under state law. But the law has a limited scope and does not apply to everyone who has a restraining order against them.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Business

Bitcoin soars on hopes of bitcoin strategic reserve. Here’s how it would work.

Chesnot/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The price of bitcoin topped $107,000 for the first time this week, climbing to a fresh high days after President-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed support for a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve akin to its strategic oil reserve.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has seen its price climb more than 50% since the election of Trump, who voiced support for bitcoin on the campaign trail.

Proponents of a potential government stockpile of bitcoin say it could diversify the nation’s financial holdings and prevent other countries from dominating the ascendant digital currency market. Critics warn, however, that the highly volatile asset lacks the type of financial or national security import that would warrant a strategic reserve.

Here’s what to know about a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve, according to experts:

How would a bitcoin strategic reserve work?

A U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would amount to a substantial government holding of bitcoin similar to the country’s stockpile of oil or gold.

A strategic reserve typically acts as a safeguard against an emergency shortage or another sudden event that would require the government to draw upon its stockpile of a given asset.

For instance, the strategic petroleum reserve, or SPR, was established after the Arab Oil Embargo triggered an energy crisis in the early 1970s with devastating consequences for the U.S. economy. The SPR, in turn, provides an emergency source of oil that protects the U.S. against a sudden supply crunch.

A bitcoin strategic reserve would help ensure the U.S. plays a significant role in the cryptocurrency market, which supporters view as a fast-growing part of the global financial system, Nik Bhatia, a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Southern California who studies cryptocurrency, told ABC News.

“Bitcoin has now become the largest decentralized asset in human history,” Bhatia said.

“Having some ownership in the network would be natural for the U.S. given its leadership in technology,” Bhatia added, citing the nation’s role in the invention of the internet.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of a bitcoin strategic reserve?

Speaking at a pro-bitcoin conference in July, Trump said a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve would ensure the country exerts influence over bitcoin and prevents China from controlling the digital currency market.

Supporters of a bitcoin strategic reserve also say the asset would help diversify the nation’s financial holdings, protecting it from the potential decline in value of other assets, such as the U.S. dollar or gold.

Some proponents have said bitcoin holdings could help the U.S. pay down its national debt, since the price of bitcoin has recently climbed.

“While U.S. adversaries acquire traditional gold from a position of relative financial weakness, the U.S. can countermove by stockpiling digital gold in a way that amplifies its incumbent financial strength,” the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that supports a bitcoin strategic reserve, said earlier this year.

Some critics say bitcoin, launched 15 years ago, remains a relatively new asset lacking the kind of social utility or financial import that would necessitate a strategic reserve.

“You’re going to be hard pressed to say someone needs bitcoin the day-to-day way that they need petroleum,” Ananya Kumar, deputy director for future of money at the GeoEconomics Center, a part of the nonpartisan Atlantic Council, told ABC News.

Since the price of bitcoin is highly volatile, a large purchase of the asset could end up threatening the nation’s financial stability rather than safeguarding it, some critics say.

When asked about forecasts of future bitcoin gains that could ease the nation’s debt, Kumar says the long-term outlook for bitcoin remains uncertain. “The coin’s price has obviously been rising over time, but I’m not sure if that rise will continue,” Kumar said.

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