The manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was intensifying Sunday after New York authorities released two new photos of the widely sought suspect and hinted the killer’s identity may have been determined.
The photos appear to have been taken from a camera in a cab and show the suspect wearing a blue medical mask. In one photo he appears to be looking through the partition from the back seat, in the other photo he is on the street. Previously released photos have provided a relatively clear view of his face.
Earlier Saturday, police said the killer’s backpack, found in Central Park, contained a jacket and fake money from a Monopoly game.
Thompson, 50, was shot Wednesday on a Midtown street outside a Hilton hotel where he was set to speak at an investment conference. Surveillance cameras show a shooter firing multiple times from behind Thompson at close range at about 6:45 a.m. Police said the assailant, wearing a hooded jacket, balaclava and gray backpack, fled on foot before mounting an electric bike and riding into Central Park.
The shooter is believed to have left the city by bus soon after the shooting. He was seen on video at an uptown bus station about 45 minutes later, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Kenny said the suspect arrived in the city Nov. 24 on a bus from Atlanta, though it’s unclear where he caught the bus along its route. No motive has been revealed for the attack, but police said the words “delay,” “depose” and “deny” were written on bullet casings found at the murder scene.
🚨UPDATE: Below are photos of a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide on Dec. 4.
The full investigative efforts of the NYPD are continuing, and we are asking for the public’s help—if you have any information about this case, call the… https://t.co/U4wlUquumf pic.twitter.com/243V0tBZOr
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 8, 2024
CEO Brian Thompson shooting: ‘Net is tightening’ in search for suspect, NYC mayor says
Mayor won’t say whether killer was identified
On Saturday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the “net was tightening” in the effort to find the killer. But he declined to say whether the identity of the suspect had been determined.
“We don’t want to release that now,” Adams said. “If you do, you’re basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking, and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask.”
Internet vitriol: Health insurance CEO shooting prompted venting aimed at industry
Internet vitriol takes aim at health insurance industry
The brazen killing unleashed social media scorn at Thompsons company and a U.S. health insurance industry that serves as gatekeeper to the nation’s $4.5 trillion health care system. Trying to file an insurance claim at UnitedHealthcare, among the nation’s largest insurance companies, is a “humiliating and godawful slog,” one commenter wrote. “Guessing this (shooter) might be a disgruntled policy holder.”
Another poster complained, “CEOs are making money hand over fist- by DENYING care. I feel terrible for his family, but can’t say I’m surprised.”
Wendell Potter, a former CIGNA executive who became a whistleblower against the health insurance industry, said the shooting served as an “opportunity for people to vent and to take out their anger against someone who just became known to them all of a sudden.” Read more here.
− Ken Alltucker, Jeanine Santucci, N’dea Yancey-Bragg
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shooting updates: Photos released