A Manhattan grand jury indicted 26-year-old Luigi Mangione for the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Tuesday.

The charges include one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, as well as multiple counts of criminal weapon possession and a forged instrument charge.

Prosecutors allege that the shooting was premeditated and committed in furtherance of terrorism, according to the indictment and a statement.

Bragg announced the indictment along with New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch in a press conference. Mangione potentially faces life in prison without parole, officials said.

Bragg said the terrorism designation under New York law allows charges when the crime is intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or affect government conduct.

He characterized the incident as “a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” adding during a press conference that it took place in “one of the most bustling parts” of New York City.

Police officials allege Mangione traveled to New York on Nov. 24 and used a fake New Jersey ID under the name Mark Rosario while staying at a city hostel.

On the morning of Dec. 4, Mangione allegedly approached Thompson from behind outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown and fired shots from a 9-millimeter 3D-printed handgun equipped with a silencer, according to the indictment. Thompson was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Thompson, originally from a small farming community in Iowa and a married father of two teenagers, had been with UnitedHealth Group for two decades and led its insurance arm since 2021.

Tisch criticized those who had celebrated the murder and had been supportive of Mangione.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” she said during the press conference. “Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters, threatening the CEOs, other CEOs with an X over Mr. Thompson’s picture as though he was some sort of a sick trophy.”

She said “extreme activists” had reportedly circulated cards with the faces of other CEOs for assassination.

“These are the threats of a lawless, violent mob who would trade in their own vigilantism for the rule of law that protects us all,” she said. “Let me say this plainly, there is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk. We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone and any attempt to rationalize this is a vile, reckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.”

Investigators say Mangione fled New York shortly after the shooting and was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 after being recognized at a McDonald’s.

At the time of his arrest, authorities recovered a 9-millimeter handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, ammunition magazines, a homemade silencer, and the forged ID.

Investigators believe that Mangione, an Ivy League-educated computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, may have been driven by anger at the U.S. health care system. Police have so far found no evidence that he was a UnitedHealthcare client.

He remains in custody while the extradition process moves forward, and his defense counsel has indicated that Mangione intends to plead not guilty to all charges.

The Associated Press, Aldgra Fredly, and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.