Chicago, Illinois - A new poll indicates a significant percentage of Americans believe injustices in the health insurance industry to be at least partially to blame for the recent killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Around 69% of Americans surveyed consider insurance companies' denials of health coverage to be at least somewhat responsible for Thompson's murder, according to a poll conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.

The survey analyzed responses from 1,001 participants from 50 states and the District of Columbia between December 12-16.

The poll found health insurance companies' profits and wealth inequality generally to be at least partially to blame according to 67% and 53% of respondents, respectively.

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At the same time, 78% of people surveyed believe the individual who carried out the killing shares a "moderate amount" or a "great deal" of responsibility.

Thompson (50) was fatally shot outside a New York Hilton hotel by a masked gunman earlier this month. The incident was captured on a security camera, which sparked a days-long manhunt that ultimately ended in the arrest of Luigi Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

The 26-year-old suspect was reportedly found with a handwritten manifesto blasting the for-profit health insurance industry which continues to grow as US life expectancy dwindles.

"They continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it," the manifesto states.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty in New York to state charges, including first-degree murder as an act of terrorism.