Mangione concealed gun magazine in underwear in his backpack

Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos, Bloomberg News on Dec 8, 2025

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NEW YORK — Police debated whether they needed a warrant to continue searching Luigi Mangione’s backpack after they arrested him and found a gun magazine wrapped in his underwear in the bag, an officer testified Monday.

The testimony came at a court hearing to determine whether police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, improperly questioned Mangione and searched his bag without a warrant as a suspect in the New York murder of Brian Thompson, a UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive.

Mangione’s lawyers are seeking to convince a state court judge in New York that Altoona police improperly questioned him, before advising him of his rights and illegally searched the backpack. Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty in separate state and federal murder cases.

Inside the bag, Altoona police eventually found a 9-millimeter handgun, the gun magazine, a silencer, handwritten notes, a passport and other items that New York prosecutors say is powerful evidence that Mangione planned to murder Thompson.

Altoona Officer Christy Wasser testified on the fourth day of the evidentiary hearings in New York about the tense moments when officers arrested Mangione inside a McDonald’s on Dec. 9, 2024.

As officers handcuffed Mangione for showing a fake ID, Wasser put on rubber gloves and began going through the backpack. Prosecutors showed video of that search taken from body cameras worn by Wasser and other officers.

The video showed Officer Stephen Fox asking Mangione: “Anything in that bag we need to know about?”

“I wish to remain silent,” Mangione said as he stood with handcuffs behind his back.

Wasser testified that response “heightened” her concern that “there’s something in there that we had to be aware of.”

Corporal Garrett Trent could be heard saying: “Just make sure there’s nothing that’s going to go off.” He also said: “I would take it back to the station to check for bombs.”

“I’d like to check it now,” Wasser said, saying she wanted to make sure “there’s nothing in there that’s gonna…”

‘Bread, Knife’

Wasser testified that she didn’t want to repeat the mistake of a colleague who once brought a bomb back to the station.

The video showed she pulled a hoagie from the bag, as well as a loaf of bread, a knife and a Faraday bag, designed to hide electronic signals. It contained a cell phone, a wallet and a passport. She then pulled out the gun magazine wrapped in wet underwear, she testified. Wasser was smiling on the video.

On the video, one officer swore and said: “100 percent it’s him.”

Wasser testified she then began putting the items back in the bag because she was satisfied there was no bomb. On the video, Corporal Trent said they needed a warrant to continue the search. Fox said: “We don’t need one, it’s a search incident to an arrest.”

Another superior, Corporal Adam Miller, said: “I would still play it safe because of the severity of it and get a search warrant.”

About 15 minutes later, Wasser’s body camera video showed her searching the bag at the police station as a supervisor watches. She chuckled in surprise as she found a silencer and then the gun. The gun was not visible on the video.

“Wooh, hoo hoo hoo!” Wasser said after her discovery.

“It’s him,” Detective Chief Derek Swope told her.

“Oh, my God!” Wasser exclaimed.

Under questioning from Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann, Wasser said that was the first time she saw the gun.

On cross-examination, Mangione attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo sought to show that no one authorized Wasser to come to the McDonald’s, that her supervisors gave contradictory instructions on whether to search the bag, and that the police took no steps to protect restaurant customers from a bomb.

“Did anyone tell you to stop searching for a bomb because there were too many people walking through the area?,” Friedman Agnifilo asked.

“No, Corporal Trent told me to search for a bomb,” Wasser said.

"Possible escape routes"

On the video, one officer said Mangione had a ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Wasser testified she found a handwritten notes, including one that depicted a hand-written map. It included Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio. The note also said “check Pittsburgh red eye.” Seidemann called the notes his “possible escape routes.”

Earlier on Monday, a prosecutor from Blair County, Pennsylvania, said she signed a criminal complaint late that December afternoon charging Mangione with forgery, possession of false identification, and possession of a weapon without a license.

First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith said that at the same time, she also signed a warrant to authorize a search of Mangione’s possessions and transfer them to the New York Police Department.

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