New photos released as hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO killer continues

New York police have released two photos of an unmasked man wanted for questioning in the killing of a healthcare executive.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in the back Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan.

The attacker fled the scene without taking any of Thompson’s belongings. The police believe that the victim was the victim of a premeditated murder.

Investigators are also using facial recognition technology and bullet casings with cryptic messages written on them to track down the suspect. They have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting.

Here’s what we know about the suspect and the investigation.

The shooting took place around 06:45 EST (11:45 GMT) in a busy part of Manhattan close to Times Square and Central Park. Thompson was scheduled to speak at an investor conference later in the day.

According to police, the suspect – who was wearing a black face mask and light brown or cream jacket – appeared to wait for Thompson for five minutes outside the Hilton hotel where he was expected to speak.

Thompson, who arrived on foot, was shot in the back and leg and was pronounced dead about half an hour later at a local hospital.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny has revealed that the suspect’s weapon appeared to jam, but he was able to quickly repair it and continue firing.

CCTV footage appears to show the gunman had fitted a silencer, also known as a silencer, to his gun, BBC Verify has established.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams — a veteran of the NYPD — told MSNBC that the use of a silencer was unprecedented in his career.

“I’ve never seen a muffler before,” he said. “It was really quite shocking to all of us.”

Investigators reportedly believe the firearm to be a BT Station Six 9, a weapon marketed as tracing its roots back to pistols used by Allied special operations forces from World War II.

Police reportedly visited gun stores in Connecticut to try to determine where the gun was purchased.

After the shooting, video shows the suspect fleeing the scene on foot. Officials initially said the suspect was using an electric Citi 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.

So far, the investigation into Thompson’s killing has centered on a few clues that police are using to identify the suspect.

Officials released two photos Thursday of an unmasked man the NYPD said was “wanted for questioning” in connection with the murder.

Law enforcement sources told CBS the person is believed to have used a fake ID to check into an area hostel. The name used is fraudulent and is not believed to belong to an actual person.

It is unclear if he is the same person as the suspect.

Earlier, police revealed that the suspect was photographed at a nearby Starbucks just minutes before the shooting.

While he is masked in the photo, police sources told CBS that the mask is pulled down far enough so that his eyes and part of his nose can be seen.

With that, investigators use facial recognition software to try to find a match.

Investigators have so far not identified a motive in the killing, although police noted that the assailant fled without taking any of Thompson’s belongings.

In addition, police are testing three bullet casings and three live rounds found at the scene for DNA.

The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were discovered on the casings, two law enforcement sources told CBS.

Investigators believe this could be a reference to the “three D’s of insurance” – a familiar reference from detractors of the industry.

The terms refer to tactics used by insurance companies to deny payment claims from patients in America’s complicated and mostly privately run health care system.

The words are similar to — but not quite the same as — the title of a book called Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.

The book, published in 2010, was written by Jay Feinman, a legal scholar at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It is billed as an exposé of the insurance industry and a guide for Americans on how to navigate the system.

Professor Feinman declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

A cell phone was discovered in an alley along the suspect’s escape route. Police say they are “working through” the phone.

A coffee cup believed to have been discarded by the suspect has also been dusted for fingerprints and sent to an NYPD crime lab in hopes that it may help reveal his identity or establish a chain of events.

Investigators also said they executed a search warrant at a location on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that he was seen entering earlier in the day.

The location is near the Frederick Douglas housing project, where police say surveillance video showed the suspect outside around 1 p.m. 05:00 in the morning when the crime took place.

Police previously said they would also search Thompson’s room at the nearby Marriott, which is down the street from where the incident took place.

Thompson joined UnitedHealth, the largest private insurer in the United States, from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2004.

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 in the past, though she was unable to provide details.

“I just know he said there were some people who had threatened him,” she said.

According to police in Thompson’s hometown of Maple Grove, Minnesota, there had previously been one suspicious incident at his home in 2018.

The incident was cleared up with no criminal activity detected. No further details were given.