Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of health care CEO Brian Thompson last month, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday.
Mr. Mangione was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as a killing as an act of “terrorism,” Bragg said.
In announcing the charges, Bragg called the shooting a “horrifying, well-planned and targeted murder.”
According to BBC media partner CBS News, Mr. Mangione is scheduled to appear on December 19 for a court hearing on whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges.
The extradition hearing will take place the same day he goes on trial in Pennsylvania on gun-related charges.
Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a so-called “ghost gun” and a fake ID, police said, five days after he allegedly shot health care CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4.
His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, said he plans to fight the extradition and claims he has seen no evidence linking Mr. Mangione’s gun to the crime.
New York prosecutors began sharing evidence with a grand jury in their case against Mr. Mangione last week.
According to CBS News, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has suggested that Mr. Mangione could waive extradition, meaning his arrival in New York is imminent.
If extradited, the 26-year-old will likely be held at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.
The evidence against Mr Mangione includes: a positive game between his fingerprints and those discovered at the crime scene, said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
In addition to the ghost gun – a weapon assembled from untraceable parts – and a fake ID, police said they also found a passport and a handwritten document that revealed Mr. Mangione’s “motivation and attitude” during his arrest.
He was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying firearms without a license, tampering with records or identification, possession of instruments of crime and presenting a false ID to police.
While Mr. Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains under maximum security at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.
He was denied bail.
