The man arrested Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is alleged to have had a type of homemade weapon known as a “ghost gun.”
Luigi Mangione, 26, whom police named as a “strong person of interest,” had a “ghost gun that had the capability of firing 9 mm round and a suppressor” when he was arrested on weapons charges in Altoona, Pennsylvania, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News the weapon found in Mangione’s possession appears to be similar to the weapon used in the Manhattan murder. Kenny said the weapon “may have been made on a 3D printer.”
“Ghost guns” are firearms that can be assembled at home from parts that are bought online. Those parts can usually be obtained without background checks and do not have serial numbers.
The do-it-yourself kits have been around since the 1990s, but they have exploded in popularity in recent years — especially among criminals.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said that from January 2016 to December 2021, it received about 45,000 reports of suspected privately made firearms recovered by law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations — including 692 homicides or attempted homicides.
The number of ghost guns recovered rose steadily each of those years, from 1,758 in 2016 to 19,344 in 2021, according to the Justice Department.
Technology has also added to the steep increase — online videos about how to assemble the guns have millions of views, while some sellers offer 3D printing files for customers to print and assemble the weapons themselves, without serial numbers.
The Justice Department said in a 2022 fact sheet that firearms without serial numbers are incredibly difficult to trace — the ATF reported it was able to trace only 0.98% of the suspected ghost guns submitted by law enforcement to individual purchasers.
