A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder on Monday in connection with the targeted killing of a health insurance executive in New York, along with other offenses.

Luigi Mangione was charged in New York with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree possession of a weapon, according to online court documents seen by AFP.

Investigators continued to question Mangione in relation to the brazen murder that occurred last week, which sparked a nationwide manhunt and garnered global attention. He appeared in a Pennsylvania court on Monday evening wearing a dark sweatshirt, escorted by Altoona police and NYPD detectives, where he was arraigned, as shown by broadcasters.

Mangione is scheduled to appear in court again on December 23. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated that murder charges would be filed in New York, emphasizing that "we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint."

Police have not confirmed reports that the words "delay" and "deny"—terms often used by insurers to reject claims—were found written on casings at the crime scene, suggesting a possible political motive for the attack.

According to a New York Times report, Mangione, who lived with chronic back pain and underwent surgery last year, posted an X-ray of his injured spine on a social media account. He was apprehended after staff at a McDonald's in Altoona tipped off officers, leading to his arrest while using a laptop and providing a fake ID.

During the search, police found a "ghost gun" capable of firing 9mm rounds and equipped with a suppressor, potentially made using a 3D printer. When asked if he had been to New York recently, Mangione reportedly became quiet and began to shake.

One of the fake IDs found was used to check into a Manhattan hostel before the attack, along with a document that hinted at Mangione's "motivation and mindset," according to New York police. Mangione, born and raised in Maryland, studied at the University of Pennsylvania and had been living in Hawaii prior to the incident.

His LinkedIn profile indicated that he worked as a data engineer at TrueCar, a California-based online auto marketplace, before leaving the company in 2023. His family issued a statement expressing their shock and devastation over his arrest.

The attack on Brian Thompson, a senior executive at UnitedHealthcare, was captured on CCTV. The gunman approached Thompson from behind and shot him in front of bystanders. The footage went viral as the manhunt intensified and questions about the killer's motives circulated.

Thompson, 50, was attending an investor conference in Midtown when the incident occurred. The suspect fled on foot, then cycled to Central Park and boarded a bus connecting New York to surrounding states.

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