New York (AFP) – New York’s mayor insisted the hunt for the man believed to have gunned down a top health insurance executive was “on the right track” as the investigation dragged into a third day Friday. Investigators secured a breakthrough Thursday when they released the first full-face picture of a suspect without a covering like that worn during Wednesday’s brazen daylight slaying.
“This person was fully masked, and we used good old-fashioned police work to come up with the picture you have,” Mayor Eric Adams told the Spectrum broadcaster. The image of the smiling suspect was obtained from a youth hostel where the gunman apparently stayed before the hit, detectives said, with media speculating he lowered his mask to flirt with a receptionist.
The gunman sprayed Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare — one of the country’s largest medical insurers — with bullets in front of bystanders, in an audacious hit captured by a surveillance camera and now seen by millions. Thompson was attending an investor conference in the Midtown business district. Police have yet to suggest a motive and would not confirm a New York Times report that the words “delay” and “deny” — often used by insurance companies to reject claims — were written on shell casings found at the scene.
Video footage shows Thompson on the sidewalk outside the New York Hilton Midtown when a man in a hooded top and with his lower face covered approaches from behind, then fires several shots at his 50-year-old victim, who crumples to the ground. Camera footage showed the suspect fleeing on foot before getting on a bicycle — which police initially said may have been a rented e-bike. Police said he went in the direction of Central Park.
“Every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack,” New York’s Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a briefing Wednesday. Law enforcement sources said the suspected shooter traveled to New York via bus last month from Atlanta, Georgia — a distance of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), according to US media Thursday. An NYPD spokesman declined to comment on the claims.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny would not confirm reports that a silencer was used on the murder weapon, saying that the question would be part of the investigation, but he did confirm that a cell phone had been recovered from the scene. In the absence of an arrest, speculation has been rife that the gunman may have sought to take revenge for adverse medical coverage decisions made by the insurer.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, who is based in Minnesota, told the NBC News outlet that he had received unspecified threats. “There had been some threats basically I don’t know — (over) a lack of coverage? I don’t know details,” said Thompson, who had two children with her late husband.
In a statement, UnitedHealth Group — the parent company of UHC — said it was “deeply saddened and shocked.” UnitedHealthcare is a major player in the lucrative US health care market, and the parent group had revenues of $100.8 billion in the third quarter of the year. Thompson’s own compensation package in 2023 was $10.2 million according to a regulatory filing.
© 2024 AFP
