Police in New York have released two photos of an unmasked man wanted for questioning in the murder of a healthcare chief executive.
UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson, 50, was shot in the back outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan early Wednesday morning.
The assailant fled the scene without taking any of Thompson’s belongings. Police believe that the victim was targeted in a pre-planned murder.
Investigators are also using facial recognition technology and bullet casings with secret messages written on them to track down the suspect. They have not yet revealed any motive for the shooting.
What we know about the suspect and the investigation.
The NYPDHow did the shooting and escape happen?
The shooting happened at around 06:45 EST (11:45 GMT) in a busy part of Manhattan near Times Square and Central Park. Thompson was scheduled to address an investor conference later in the day.
According to police, the suspect — who was wearing a black face mask and a light brown or cream-colored jacket — appeared to wait for Thompson for five minutes outside the Hilton hotel where he hoped to speak.
Thompson, who arrived on foot, was shot in the back and leg, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital about half an hour later.
New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney revealed that the suspect’s weapon appeared to jam, but he was able to quickly recover it and fire.
CCTV footage shows the gunman had a suppressor, also known as a silencer, fitted to his pistol, BBC Verify has established.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams — an NYPD veteran — told MSNBC that the use of silencers was unprecedented in his career.
“I have never seen a silencer before,” he said. “It was really a shock to all of us.”
Investigators reportedly believe the firearm is a BT Station Six 9, a weapon marketed as having its roots in pistols used by World War II-era Allied Special Operations Forces.
Police have reportedly visited gun stores in Connecticut to try to determine where the weapons were purchased.
After the shooting, video shows the suspect fleeing on foot. Officials initially said the suspect used an electric city bike owned by Lyft.
But Lyft, which owns and operates Citi Bike, later said it had been told by the NYPD that one of its vehicles had not been used, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Investigation
So far, the investigation into Thompson’s murder has focused on a few leads that police are using to identify the suspect.
Authorities released two photos Thursday of an unmasked man the NYPD said was “wanted for questioning” in connection with the murder.
The man is believed to have used a fake ID to check into a hostel in the area, law enforcement sources told CBS. The name used is fraudulent and is not believed to belong to any real person.
Investigators believe the person of interest referred to a person who was briefed on the investigation on a bus from Atlanta, Georgia, to New York days before the shooting, CBS reports. It’s unclear whether the man boarded the bus in Atlanta or during a later stop.
It is unclear if he is the same person as the suspect.
Earlier, police revealed that the suspect was photographed at a nearby Starbucks minutes before the shooting.
While he is masked in the photo, police sources told CBS that the mask is pulled down enough to reveal his eyes and part of his nose.
With that, investigators are trying to find a match using facial recognition software.
Investigators have not yet identified a motive for the killing, although police noted that the assailant escaped without taking any of Thompson’s belongings.
Additionally, police are examining three bullet casings and three live rounds found at the scene for DNA.
Two law enforcement sources told CBS that the words “deny,” “defend” and “deposed” were found on the casings.
Investigators believe this may be a reference to the “three days of insurance” – a well-known reference made by opponents of the industry.
The terms refer to tactics used by insurance companies to deny payment claims by patients in America’s complex and largely privately run health care system.
The words are similar – but not exactly the same – to the title of a book called Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.
Published in 2010, the book was written by Jay Feinman, a legal scholar at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It is billed as a guide for Americans on how to navigate the insurance industry and the system.
Professor Feynman declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.
A mobile phone was discovered in an alley along the suspect’s escape route. Police say they are working over the phone.
A coffee cup believed to have been discarded by the suspect has been sent for fingerprints and sent to the NYPD crime lab in hopes of identifying him or It can help establish the sequence of events.
Investigators also said they executed a search warrant at a location on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where he was seen entering earlier in the day.
The location is near the Frederick Douglass housing project, where police say surveillance video showed the suspect outside around 05:00 the morning of the crime.
Police had previously said they would also search Thompson’s room at the nearby Marriott, which is down the street from where the incident happened.
Thompson joined UnitedHealth, the largest private insurer in the United States, in 2004 from the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He rose through the ranks and became CEO in 2021, leading the company through some very profitable years.
In an interview with MSNBC, Thompson’s wife said there had been “some threats” against him before, though she was unable to provide details.
“All I know is that she said there were some people who were threatening her,” she said.
According to police in Thompson’s hometown of Maple Grove, Minnesota, there was a previous suspicious incident at his home in 2018.
The incident was cleared for no criminal activity detected. No additional details were provided.