The individual currently under police investigation for the killing of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare is a software engineer who graduated from an Ivy League university, hailing from a well-known family in Baltimore. This person has expressed positive views on the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, on a website dedicated to books.
Mangione was discovered at a McDonald’s in Altoona in possession of a gun and a suppressor, both of which are believed to match the weapon used in the homicide, according to Tisch. A suppressor is a device that reduces the noise produced by a firearm.
(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Under pressure and running out of options
Despite managing to evade the authorities, including the FBI and the New York Police Department, for several days, the intense psychological stress of being a fugitive and the intense scrutiny of a widespread manhunt may have caused the individual to make mistakes, as noted by O’Toole.
“It would be absolutely overwhelming and there’s nothing that he can do about it, and this is where he will make mistakes,” she said. “In the shoes of the shooter right now, he is dealing with emotions and consequences that I don’t think he anticipated at all.”
It’s possible the suspect could lose the critical thinking skills needed to strategically evade capture under the mounting pressure, the expert said.
“His options are getting fewer and fewer and fewer, and then on top of that, his ability to make good decisions is deteriorating,” O’Toole said.
“(With) the reality that he can never go back to a normal life the way it was before last week, all of those can result in very poor decision-making,” she added.
