Luigi Mangione has been extradited to New York after dropping his legal challenge against the motion.

Luigi Mangione was charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Credit: Handout / Getty

Mangione, accused of shooting dead healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, is now in the custody of the New York Police Department and is expected to be flown from Pennsylvania – where he was arrested – to face charges including first-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as an act of “terrorism” as per the BBC.

Earlier this week, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Mangione for murder as an act of terrorism in Thompson’s death.

He now faces 11 counts in New York, the indictment states.

“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Tuesday during a conference.

The shooting happened “in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists alike, and commuters and business people just starting out on their day,” Bragg added.

On Wednesday (December 4), it was reported that the CEO of the insurance giant was shot and killed outside a luxury Midtown hotel just before 7:00AM in what has been described as a “brazen, targeted attack” by Mangione who used a firearm with a silencer, police said.

Brian Thompson. Credit: UnitedHealth Group

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that Thompson was waiting outside the Hilton hotel along Sixth Avenue when he was approached by a “hooded individual” who opened fire on him, shooting him multiple times.

In a disturbing surveillance video that was discovered after the crime was committed, the 50-year-old can be seen stumbling after the first bullet was launched before turning around and being shot several more times.

Authorities confirmed that the suspect then fled the scene of the shooting on a bicycle before entering Central Park, and taking a taxi to a bus terminal that has interstate services.

Luigi Mangione after a hearing at Blair County Courthouse on December 19, 2024 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.Credit: Pool / Getty

In the wake of the murder, many have taken to praise the 26-year-old, which Tisch has branded a “shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder” per CNN.

“It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk,” the officer continued. “We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone, and any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.”

If convicted, Mangione faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.