UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect charged with first-degree murder

The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, has been indicted for first-degree murder.

Mangione, 26, has been charged with one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, in addition to other weapon and forgery charges.

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, said in a statement that Mangione allegedly “carried out the brazen, targeted and fatal shooting” and that “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”.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told CNN that he does not plan to fight his upcoming extradition to New York. On Thursday, he’s expected in a Pennsylvania court for an extradition hearing where a judge will rule on what will happen next as he returns to New York.

A conviction of second-degree murder in New York would see Mangione serving 15 years to life in prison; a first-degree murder conviction would see a sentence of 20 years to life.

Thompson, 50, was killed at gunpoint on 4 December in midtown Manhattan as he was walking to attend UnitedHealthcare’s annual investors’ meeting. The suspect escaped the scene and fled on foot, later by ebike, to Central Park.

After several days of searching in New York City, Mangione was found and reported to police while in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police found Mangione in possession of a firearm suppressor, a mask consistent with that worn by the gunman, a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the ID the man used to check into the New York City hostel before the shooting, and a handwritten document.

More details soon …