New York, 10 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) — The suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare's chief executive was charged with intentional murder in New York Criminal Court on Monday, following his arrest at a McDonald's in a small city in Pennsylvania.

Documents filed by the New York City District Attorney's office showed that Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged with five counts. In addition to the murder charge, the charges included three counts related to firearms and one count of forging a document.

On Wednesday, Brian Thompson, 50, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down in the early morning in front of a midtown Manhattan hotel.

Law enforcement had been on a manhunt for the suspect ever since, and posted a few photos of whom they believed to be behind the crime.

Officials said a McDonald's employee at one of the fast food chain's locations in Altoona, Pennsylvania, recognized the man and called the US emergency number, 911.

Police said the man "started to shake" when they asked him if he'd been in New York recently.

Mangione had reportedly been suffering from debilitating back pain. A document condemning the healthcare industry was found among his possessions, according to US media.

Reports said he came from a prominent Maryland family and held bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and had been a lead counselor at a Stanford University pre-college program.