US AUTHORITIES HAVE charged the man suspected of fatally shooting a health insurance CEO in New York earlier this month with murder, including a second-degree murder charge “as an act of terrorism.”

“Luigi Mangione, the defendant, is charged with one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, including one count of murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism,” said Alvin Bragg, the district attorney for Manhattan.

Thompson, 50, was shot dead on a Manhattan street as he walked to a hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare – the United States’ biggest medical insurer – was holding an investor conference.

After days of intense police searches and publicity, Mangione was arrested on 9 December after being spotted in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

New York police officials have said Mangione was carrying the gun used in Thompson’s killing, a passport and various fake IDs, including the one that the suspected shooter presented to check into a New York hostel.

Additional reporting by AFP