UnitedHealthcare CEO killing: Luigi Mangione charged with first-degree murder as terrorism in NY
Luigi Mangione faces charges including second-degree murder in the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Luigi Mangione has been indicted in New York for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the grand jury has upgraded charges to first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the charges Tuesday against Mangione, who is also charged with: two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
The slaying in the heart of Midtown Manhattan was "intended to evoke terror," Bragg said at a news conference.
"This was a frightening, well planned, targeted murder," Bragg said. "This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working day in and day out to bring the defendant to justice."
Bragg says Mangione faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.
The new development comes as Mangione is expected to waive extradition when he appears in court in Pennsylvania on Thursday, sources told ABC News.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione also faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
Mangione has hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo as his lawyer in New York. She was a 25-year veteran of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and its second in command for 8 years.
His court appearance is set for 9 a.m. Thursday.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 after nearly one week on the run.
When Mangione was apprehended, he had a 9 mm handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines and live cartridges, prosecutors said.
Thompson's murder ignited online anger at the health insurance industry. Many people online have celebrated the suspect and some have donated to a defense fund for Mangione.
"There is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence," Tisch said at Tuesday's news conference.
"Any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice," she said.
Tisch praised the "relentless" collection of video evidence that resulted in the clear image recognized at the McDonald's where Mangione was arrested.
RELATED | Supporters of suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione establish defense fund
His arrest came five days after the caught-on-camera killing of Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.
Police say the shooter waited nearly an hour outside the hotel, where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, early on the morning of Dec. 4. He approached Thompson from behind and shot him with a 9mm ghost gun equipped with a 3D-printed suppressor before fleeing on a bicycle through Central Park, DA Bragg said.
"These weapons are increasingly proliferating through New York City and the entire country," Bragg said of ghost guns. "As this case tragically makes clear they can be just as deadly as regular firearms."
Mangione has been fighting attempts to extradite him back to New York so that he can face a murder charge in Thompson's killing.
The 26-year-old, who police say was found with a " ghost gun " matching shell casings found at the site of the shooting, is also charged in Pennsylvania with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.
Mangione is an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family. In posts on social media, Mangione wrote about experiencing severe chronic back pain before undergoing a spinal fusion surgery in 2023. Afterward, he posted that the operation had been a success and that his pain had improved and mobility returned. He urged others to consider the same type of surgery.
RELATED | Timeline of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting
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Information from ABC News and the Associated Press
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