A McDonald’s customer who spotted the man who allegedly shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson dead spoke out Tuesday from outside the Altoona, Pennsylvania restaurant.
Police identified and arrested suspect Luigi Mangione on gun charges Monday at the McDonald’s following a five-day manhunt, and he was later charged in Manhattan with murdering the insurance company executive, according to reports.
The witness, who identified himself as Larry, told the BBC he and “five or six” of his friends were at the McDonald’s where Mangione was caught by authorities. He described briefly seeing the alleged shooter and thinking nothing of it, even when his friend joked that he looked like the suspect.
“The guy came in through the door, and i didn’t really look at him. I thought everybody was kidding around. Well, one guy said, ‘that looks like the shooter from New York.’ Well then, we laughed and I guess he placed his order and we just went about our business. But we were kidding about it. They were like, ‘well, wouldn’t that be something,’ you know?” he said.
“I thought he was kidding. You know what I mean?” the witness said outside the location.
NEW: A witness who was at the McDonald’s where Luigi Mangione was caught, says he and a friend joked at Mangione that he looked like the New York sh**ter.
McDonald’s customer, Larry, said he and a friend were joking so loud that Mangione could hear them.
“One of my friends, and… pic.twitter.com/Trl6icL6qa
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 10, 2024
A female employee called 911 over Mangione’s resemblance to photos of the suspected shooter released by police and plastered across the news. Larry told Fox News Digital he spoke to the McDonald’s worker after Mangione was arrested to ask if he was there at the same time, and she said their joking prompted her to make the call. (RELATED: Alleged Assassin Appears To Have Left Three Words On Bullets Used In CEO’s Murder: REPORT)
“She goes, ‘Actually, you and your friends and all were making a joke almost and saying, you know …,’” Larry said. “And that’s pretty much about it.”
The witness said Mangione ordered food and he later passed by the alleged assassin as he left the McDonald’s. He said he went to church but came back to the fast-food joint when he heard an arrest was made.
“I think I looked at the guy, but his back was to me,” Larry said, noting that Mangione carried a backpack like reports indicated.
“My friend, Mike, said this. I asked him again this morning. I said, ‘Were you kidding or not?’ He said, ‘No, I was serious!‘“ he said, mentioning that the alleged murderer did not react when his friend was speaking loudly.
“There was no reaction from him whenever my friend said that and the worker, she heard us talking — he had to have heard us, but there was no …,” Larry continued. “Somebody told me he was here maybe a couple days.”
The witness was surprised Mangione stayed inside the McDonald’s as long as he did, especially since it was a rainy day.
“That sort of shocked me,” Larry said.
