6 December 2024, 16:33
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NYPD/Getty
The CEO of one of the biggest health insurers in the US was gunned down on the street this week, and although the killer is still at large, a picture of the assassin’s movements is becoming clearer.
Brian Thompson was shot several times outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning in a targeted attack.
Mr Thompson, 50, was rushed to hospital but later died.
The gunman rushed off into Central Park and is still on the loose two days on, despite a $10,000 (£7,866) reward being issued for information leading to his capture.
Police have been able to piece together some clues as they continue the multi-state manhunt – here we look at what we know about the killer’s movements.
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United Healthcare
Bus journey into New York
Police believe the suspect arrived in New York via Greyhound bus ten days before the shooting itself.
Surveillance footage shows the gunman getting off a bus at the New York Port Authority bus terminal, around a mile to the south of the hotel where Thompson was shot dead.
The bus had arrived from Atlanta, a major city in Georgia nearly 900 miles to the south of New York.
It has not been established if the attacker got on the bus in Atlanta, or on one of the stops along the way.
Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, the official said.
Picture:
NYPD
Hostel stay
The attacker checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, using a fake New Jersey license as identification.
This stay at the HI New York hostel has provided one of the major clues in the police investigation.
A member of staff at the hostel asked him to pull down his face mask, and he agreed to do so.
The ensuing counter was caught on CCTV, with the suspect seen smiling in what was supposedly a flirtatious moment.
A CCTV still was released by the police as they appealed for help finding the suspect.
The hostel is around three miles north of where the shooting took place.
Employees who work at the hostel told investigators they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them or passing by the front desk.
That person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man pictured in surveillance images released after the shooting, the official said.
“We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement.
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NYPD
Housing estate sighting
The attacker is thought to have been seen at around 5am on the morning of the killing outside the Frederick Douglass public housing projects.
He was caught on a surveillance camera outside the housing estate less than two hours before the fatal attack.
Starbucks stop
The shooter is then thought to have stopped off at a Starbucks for a coffee before the shooting.
Police released still CCTV images of the Starbucks stop as they continued to investigate.
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NYPD
Shooting of Brian Thompson
Security video from 6.45am local time shows the killer approaching Mr Thompson from behind, levelling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk.
Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle. A phone was found in an alley on the escape route, which officers are “working through”
Thompson was shot in the back and calf. He was pronounced dead about half an hour later in hospital.
Picture:
Alamy
Flight into Central Park
After the shooting, police said the gunman fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park.
He has not been seen since.
Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer.
Investigators are also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan.
Police have tested a discarded water bottle and protein bar wrapper in a hunt for his DNA.
In a strange development, the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were found emblazoned on the ammunition, echoing a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
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NYPD
Mr Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as chief executive for more than three years.
His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him”. She did not have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc, was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference after Mr Thompson’s death.
UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than 281 billion dollars (£219 billion) in revenue last year.
It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the US and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programmes.
In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorisations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.