A man was detained in Minnesota near UnitedHealthcare’s headquarters after making violent threats, according to authorities on Monday. This incident comes months after the company’s CEO was tragically killed. The suspect was noticed around 11 a.m. at a parking facility on the UnitedHealthcare corporate grounds in Minnetonka, a suburb of Minneapolis.
City representative Andy Wittenborg reported that upon his arrival, the suspect reached out to the FBI’s Minneapolis field office. An FBI negotiator promptly contacted him via phone. “The investigation is in preliminary stages, but there is no current evidence that the man held specific grievances against UnitedHealthcare,” explained Wittenborg in a statement.
Local police forces, in collaboration with the FBI, managed to maintain consistent communication with the suspect, persuading him to surrender peacefully within about an hour, with no public threat posed, as noted by Wittenborg. The suspect, who had past interactions with Minnetonka police, appeared at a security checkpoint where he wasn’t authorized to be.
Wittenborg made it clear that this incident is unrelated to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was tragically shot and killed on December 4 in New York City while walking to an investor meeting in midtown Manhattan. The individual charged with his murder, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, pleaded not guilty in December to state murder and terrorism accusations.
Over a dozen law enforcement vehicles from different agencies were depicted in news helicopter footage at the scene, as well as a standby ambulance. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
The assassination of the CEO and the subsequent manhunt, leading to Mangione’s capture, unnerved the business sector. In response, some health insurers rapidly implemented remote work and online shareholder assemblies. Meanwhile, Mangione drew support from critics of the health insurance industry, who viewed him as symbolic of frustrations over claim denials and overwhelming medical expenses.
Surveillance footage captured an assailant shooting Thompson from behind while masked. Authorities noted that the ammunition bore the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose,” mimicking language often used to describe insurer practices to evade paying claims.
Federal charges also face Mangione, with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announcing earlier this month that she instructed federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty.