UnitedHealthcare CEO’s masked shooting suspect seen in new photos in back of taxi
Police are looking into the possibility that the murder weapon used to kill Brian Thompson is a veterinary gun
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The New York Police Department has released new photos of the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
In the two new pictures, released Saturday night, the suspect is seen wearing a black coat and a medical mask as he gets into the back of a cab.
This comes after police released the first unmasked photo of the suspect earlier in the week — an image captured after the suspect lowered his mask during a “flirtatious” encounter with a Manhattan hostel clerk.
Thompson, 50, was shot at point-blank range outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Wednesday morning just before a major UnitedHealthcare investor conference.
Four days on, the gunman’s identity and motive remains a mystery with the NYPD offering a $10,000 reward for information, while the FBI is offering $50,000.
On Saturday, NYPD divers searched a pond in Central Park for the firearm used in the attack, CNN reported.
Police are looking into the possibility that the murder weapon is a veterinary gun – a larger gun used by farmers to put down animals without making a loud noise, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said earlier this week.
As well as the gun, police are still searching for the bike the suspect – thought to possibly be a disgruntled employee or client – fled on.
Police have now found a gray backpack they believe belonged to the suspect in Central Park on Friday. After sending it to a forensics lab, investigators discovered the backpack contained Monopoly money and a Tommy Hilfiger jacket, CNN reported.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said “the net is tightening” around the suspect.
“Let him continue to believe he can hide behind a mask,” Adams said Saturday. “We’re going to reveal who he is, and we’re going to bring him to justice.”
The search has now expanded beyond New York City with NYPD officers seen arriving in Atlanta on Saturday, where local police are also assisting with the investigation, according to CNN.
Police said the suspect arrived in New York City on November 24 on a Greyhound bus departing from Atlanta, Georgia. However, officials are not yet sure exactly where he boarded. Following the shooting, he was seen on footage entering the Port Authority Bus Terminal, but not leaving – indicating he may have left the city.
After arriving in New York on November 24, the suspect checked into an Upper West Side hostel with a fake New Jersey ID. While in the hostel, he slept in a room with two other men and wore a mask for the majority of his stay.
Early on December 4, the suspect was spotted at a nearby Starbucks on West 56th Street and 6th Avenue.
Soon after, he headed to the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan and lay in wait for about five minutes before Thompson arrived on the scene, police said.
The shooter, who was wearing a mask, approached Thompson from behind and shot him in the right calf and back at 6:46 a.m. Video of the incident shows the shooter calmly walking up behind Thompson before shooting him, then calmly crossing the street. The footage also showed a bystander running away as the suspect opened fire.
Thompson was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The suspect fled the scene on a bike into Central Park before footage captured him entering the bus terminal.
Investigators found three live 9mm rounds and three discharged 9mm shell casings, as well as a burner cell phone, at the scene of the shooting.
The bullet casings police had the words “deny”, “defend” and “depose” written on them, mirroring a popular phrase in the insurance industry.
A 2020 book by Jay Feinman about the insurance industry also bears a similar title: Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The book describes itself as an “expose of insurance injustice and a plan for consumers and lawmakers to fight back.”
A candy wrapper and water bottle believed to belong to the suspect has also been recovered.
Investigators have a “huge amount of evidence” in their search, including DNA evidence, fingerprints and a “massive camera canvass” of the suspect’s movements, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.