The New York police department on Thursday issued a fresh image clearly showing the face of a man they suspect of shooting and killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, early on Wednesday in Manhattan.
The manhunt continued and police appeared to be closing in on the fugitive as key new clues surfaced.
The newly-released images were taken by security cameras at a hostel on the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan where police think the suspect stayed.
In previous images issued the suspect was wearing a mask. But late morning on Thursday, police posted photographs showing a young man smiling and one of the same person looking more serious, with the hood of his coat up.
The suspect remained at large while investigators scrambled to find out his identity and as police continued to comb through a vast network of private and public surveillance cameras.
Law enforcement deployed drones and dogs in addition to sifting through data related to electric bikes.
Despite officials previously referring to the Citi Bike brand of public-use e-bike to talk about the vehicle that was used in the crime, and thousands of which are dotted around the city at charging ports, later on Thursday morning this proved to be unconfirmed. There was a report by the New York Times, citing sources familiar with the investigation, that police were now looking into it being an unmarked electric bike.Police chiefs have said it was a targeted killing.
Among other clues discovered were acell phone, video footage of the suspect and shell casings from bullets found at the scene with the words “deny”, “defend” and “depose”, according to unnamed sources who also spoke with ABC News.
Those words potentially evoke a book published 14 years ago that criticized the US health insurance industry, with its title using vocabulary common in corporate language around insurance claims, called Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, Reuters reported.
The book’s author, Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers University Law School in New Jersey, told the news agency “sorry, no comment” in an email responding to an enquiry.
The coincidence hints at possible motive, but by early Thursday afternoon the authorities had not addressed that angle nor posited a motive for the killing.
Police had earlier searched the hostel where the suspect is believed to have stayed, CNN reported, also reporting that police found a fingerprint while investigating objects connected to the man, including a cellphone and a water bottle, and that evidence was being examined in hopes it could pin down an identity.
“This does not appear to be a random act of violence,” Jessica Tisch, New York City police commissioner, told reporters. “Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack.”
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Thompson was killed by a man in black carrying a gray backpack and with his face covered up to the nose around 6.40am ET Wednesday. The police have been using the word “he” when referring to the suspect.
The man in questions had leveled a handgun fitted with a silencer at Thompson’s back and shot the executive at least once in the back and the calf, just as he was about to enter a midtown Manhattan Hilton hotel for an annual investor conference.
As Thompson collapsed on the sidewalk, the gun jammed, the man – “proficient” in firearms according to police – quickly cleared it and resumed shooting.
The suspect then fled on an e-bike into nearby Central Park. As of Thursday, there have been no arrests in the case, and police offered a $10,000 reward for information.
Since Wednesday, police have also uncovered footage of the man near the Frederick Douglass public housing project on Manhattan’s Upper West Side around 5am ET, ABC News reported.
The suspect’s motives remain unknown. Thompson’s widow said her husband had received threats. However, such incidents are not uncommon in controversial sectors.
“There had been some threats,” Paulette Thompson told NBC News. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
UnitedHealthcare is a branch of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest companies in the United States. The branch insures tens of millions of people with private health coverage.
The need for private-sector health insurance is a fact of life in the US, but frequently a thorn in American’s side, and insurers are often accused of unfairly denying coverage. The company was also the subject of an insider trader investigation and inquiry into unfair trade practices, Fox Business News reported.
Thompson’s killing quickly sent shockwaves through the corporate world, with corporate security heads gathering in a conference call to Wednesday.
“Many of my colleagues today are sitting down with their executive protection team leaders, their security leadership teams, and re-evaluating what they are doing and not doing,” Dave Komendat, president of Seattle-based Komendat Risk Management Services told the New York Times.
Another security executive, CEO Michael Julian of MPS Security & Protection, told Axios: “I’m just shocked the guy didn’t have a protective detail.”
Thompson is survived by his wife Paulette and two sons.
The Associated Press, Reuters and Joanna Walters contributed to reporting
