The masked gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson remained elusive Friday, even as investigators learned more about his movements…
The masked gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson remained elusive Friday, even as investigators learned more about his movements before and after the shocking crime.
Investigators still don’t know his name. They haven’t found the gun. They don’t know why he ambushed Thompson, 50, as the insurance executive walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton in Manhattan.
But video evidence now suggests the gunman left New York City on a bus almost immediately after the shooting, police said. And a potentially key piece of evidence, a backpack carried by the shooter, was discovered Friday by investigators in Central Park following a dayslong-search.
Here’s what we know so far about the investigation:
The shooting and a quick escape
Police said the suspect left a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side at 5:41 a.m. on Wednesday.
Just 11 minutes later, he was seen on surveillance video walking back and forth in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, wearing a distinctive backpack.
At 6:44 a.m., he shot Thompson at a side entrance to the hotel, fled on foot, then climbed aboard a bicycle and within four minutes had entered Central Park.
Another security camera recorded the gunman leaving the park near the American Museum of Natural History at 6:56 a.m. still on the bicycle but without the backpack.
After getting in a taxi, he headed north to a bus terminal near the George Washington Bridge, arriving at around 7:30 a.m.
From there, the trail of video evidence runs cold. Police have not located video of the suspected shooter exiting the building, leading them to believe he likely took a bus out of town. The station serves routes that could have taken him to New Jersey, north toward Boston or south toward Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Was physical evidence recovered?
Police found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush. The items were being tested for DNA samples.
Ammunition was found at the shooting scene with the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” written on them in marker, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Kenny said police found a cellphone in the alleyway, but it was unclear if it belonged to the shooter.
After days of searching, investigators on Friday discovered the backpack discarded by the shooter in Central Park. Police didn’t immediately reveal what, if anything, it contained but said it would be analyzed for clues.
Police haven’t located the bicycle or found much of investigative value in searches of the hostel where the gunman is believed to have stayed.
What do we know about the gun?
The 9 mm pistol appeared to have a silencer. Police were looking into the possibility that the weapon was a veterinary pistol, which is a weapon used on farms and ranches to euthanize sick or injured animals quietly without frightening other livestock.
“We’re not confirming it’s that kind of gun,” Kenny said. “It could be similar in size and stature, but that also could be a large-caliber handgun.”
Where did the shooter come from?
Police have video of the shooter first arriving in New York City on Nov. 24 on a Greyhound bus that originated in Atlanta, but it made several stops along the way, making it unclear where he got on. Atlanta police are helping with the investigation.
He could have given a fake name when he boarded the bus. Passengers aren’t required to show identification.
Security camera videos indicated that the shooter took a cab from the bus terminal to the area near the Hilton where the shooting would occur 10 days later.
At around 11 p.m., he took another cab to the hostel. Investigators believe he used a fake New Jersey identification card when he checked in and paid for his room in cash.
There, while speaking with an employee in the hostel lobby, he briefly pulled down his facemask and smiled — a moment captured on surveillance images that have been widely circulated by police.
While at the hostel, police said the shooter didn’t speak to others, including his roommates, and wore a face mask when interacting with employees. Other video shows he kept a mask on while eating, only pulling it down to take a bite.
What was his motive?
Investigators still don’t know why anyone would have targeted Thompson.
Thompson, was the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance wing of parent company UnitedHealth Group.
He had worked at the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company for two decades and led its insurance division since 2021. He was one of the company’s highest-paid executives, with a $10.2 million annual compensation package.
Thompson kept a low profile, with UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s CEO Andrew Witty taking on a more public-facing role that included testifying before Congress.
Thompson lived in a Minneapolis suburb and had two sons in high school.
His wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband said some people had been threatening him. She did not have details but suggested they may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
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