Luigi Mangione is charged with the murder of a senior health official

Luigi Mangione has been charged with the murder of top health official Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney said Tuesday.

Mr. Mangione is facing different charges, including murder, two counts of murder, one of which describes the murder as an act of terrorism, said Bragg.

“The intention was to instill fear,” said DA Alvin Bragg, calling the incident “a horrific, well-planned and targeted murder”.

Mr. Mangione is scheduled to appear in court on December 19th on whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges, although Bragg suggested that the suspect will not fight extradition.

“We have indications that the defendant may waive that hearing,” Bragg said.

The extradition hearing is expected to be held on the same day as Mr. Mangione's trial on gun-related charges in Pennsylvania.

Appearing at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, both Bragg and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch shocked the public by praising Mr. Mangione after the Dec. 4 shooting.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson was killed, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of brutal murder,” Tisch said. “We do not celebrate the killing of people and we do not support the killing of anyone.”

Five days after Mr. Thompson, a UnitedHealthcare executive, was shot and killed, Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a fake ID and a so-called “ghost gun,” police said.

His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, said he had not seen evidence linking Mr Mangione's gun to the case.

Prosecutors in New York began sharing evidence in their case against Mr. Mangione with a grand jury last week.

If released, the 26-year-old is likely to be held at Riker's Island or another New York prison.

Evidence against Mr. Mangione includes good match of his fingerprints and those found at the crime scene, Commissioner Tisch said.

Besides the ghost gun – a gun that had been assembled from untraceable parts – and a fake ID, a passport and a handwritten note indicating “interest and intelligence” were also found on Mr Mangione when he was arrested, police said.

He was charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possession of criminal paraphernalia and providing false information 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.

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