Luigi Mangione admits shooting Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione admitted in a New York courtroom on Aug. 14, 2026, that he shot UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan, while pleading guilty to federal stalking charges.

"I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died," Mangione said. "I knew what I was doing was illegal."

Mangione, 28, had previously denied a role in Thompson's killing on Dec. 4, 2024. Thompson was shot on a Manhattan street before an annual UnitedHealthcare investor conference.

In court, Mangione said he learned that UnitedHealthcare would hold the conference in New York after years of severe pain from a broken back and problems with the health insurance system. He said he obtained the exact venue by emailing UnitedHealthcare while posing as a firm with $50 million in assets.

Mangione also said he made the weapon with a 3D printer, fitted it with a silencer and magazine, and traveled to New York intending to shoot Thompson.

Police arrested Mangione five days after the killing at a McDonald's restaurant in Pennsylvania. Police found a 3D-printed gun and an apparent handwritten manifesto in his backpack, prosecutor Dominic Gentile said.

Gentile said other evidence would have been used if the case had gone to trial, including footage that he said showed Mangione stalking Thompson around Manhattan the day before the killing.

Mangione mostly answered routine questions from the judge about his competence to plead guilty. Thompson's family members were in the courtroom.