Harvard-educated New York City police officer releases crucial tip that led to Luigi Mangione’s arrest

New York City’s new Harvard-educated police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, was forced to make a major decision less than two weeks after she was on the job as cops searched for the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Police officers worked around the clock in the immediate aftermath of the Dec. 4 shooting in midtown Manhattan, combing through all the video cameras in the area. according to the Wall Street Journal.

They also obtained video footage through the NYPD’s Domain Awareness system, which Tisch previously implemented at the department to give officers real-time access to body cameras, license plate readers and private security cameras around the city.

The footage helped create a timeline of suspected killer Luigi Mangione’s movements before and after the shooting.

Police said he checked into a dormitory on Nov. 24 after arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan on a bus from Atlanta and fled the scene, riding his bicycle through Central Park and escaping through the Port Authority.

A golden streak finally appeared when Mangione, 26, took off his mask briefly at a Manhattan hostel to flirt with someone.

At that point, Tisch, 43, had to decide whether to risk releasing the image to the public and risk telling Mangione that the cops were targeting him.

But as concerns grew that he had fled New York, Tisch and Police Chief Joseph Kenney decided to release a surveillance photo in the hope that someone would recognize him.

“We had reason to believe he had left New York, and I wanted to get that picture out to the whole country,” said Tisch, whose family controls Loews Corp.

The effort was successful when employees and patrons at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, identified Mangione as the suspect in the photo last Monday.

He was then taken into custody on state firearms charges, police said, in possession of a 3D-printed handgun and a black silencer loaded with a single Glock magazine containing six 9mm all-metal rounds.

NYPD was later able to match the ammunition to those from Thompson’s death, where Mangione allegedly marked “remove,” “deny,” and “protect.”

Mangione also reportedly had a manifesto outlining his grievances with UnitedHealthcare.

“To save you from a lengthy investigation, I state directly that I did not work with anyone. It was pretty trivial: some rudimentary social engineering, basic CAD (and) a lot of patience,” he wrote in the manifesto, according to the Daily Beast.

He went on to say he “respects” federal investigators and apologized for causing any “trauma,” but appeared to defend his alleged actions.

“Frankly, these vermin had it,” the manifesto reads.

It also claimed that the United States had “the most expensive health care system in the world,” but the system was criticized for giving America only 42nd life expectancy.

Police now say they have “no indication” that Mangione was ever a customer of the insurance company.

Chief Kelly, noted NBC New York that the manifesto “does mention that it is the fifth largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest health care organization in America.”

“So maybe that’s why he targeted the company,” Kelly suggested.

Mangione is now facing charges of second-degree murder in New York and is fighting extradition to the Big Apple.

He also hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former assistant district attorney who helped prosecute Harvey Weinstein in New York.

She is considered a veteran of the New York state court system, and one source told CNN that Friedman Agnifilo “knows every hallway, every judge, every clerk in the courthouse.”

“She has as much experience as anyone, especially in a state court.”

In the meantime, New York authorities are hoping to get him back with a so-called gubernatorial warrant.

This is a warrant signed by the governor of the state where the fugitive is fleeing after the crime. The governor of that state acts at the official request of the governor of the state where the crime occurred.

In that case, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to ask Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for the governor’s approval, but the process could take more than a month.