The FBI has said it is offering $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman who fatally shot the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in New York City, as efforts to identify and locate a suspect continue.
The FBI’s reward, which is in addition to a $10,000 reward offered by police, come as investigators try to piece together the movements of the man suspected of what they called the “targeted” attack that killed Brian Thompson in Manhattan early on Wednesday morning.
After combing through surveillance video that shows him fleeing the scene of the shooting on a bicycle before entering Central Park, police say they believe the suspect may have fled the city by bus. Video shows him then walking and taking a taxi to a bus terminal that has interstate services.
“We have reason to believe he’s no longer in New York City,” said Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the New York police department.
Police officers, aided by drones, have scoured Central Park and have found a backpack believed to have been discarded by the suspected killer during his escape. Despite the suspect’s apparent fleeing from the city, Eric Adams, New York City’s mayor, said that “we are on the right road to apprehend him and bring him to justice”.
Images of the alleged gunman during and after the shooting show that he was masked or wearing a hood, with an image circulated by police of his face taken at a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, when a person believed to be the suspect lowered his face covering to talk to the receptionist.
The identity of the suspect is still unknown, though, as is the motive. However, the apparently targeted nature of the attack and the words “delay,” “deny” and possibly “depose” written on the shell casings – along with bullets recovered from the scene of the shooting – have suggested it is linked to the healthcare insurance industry’s routine denial of payments for medical services to many Americans.
Healthcare debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US, with for-profit healthcare insurers such as UnitedHealthcare among the wealthiest corporations in the country. Thompson, who lived in Minnesota near the company’s headquarters, earned $10m a year in his role as chief executive.
The shooting has caused deep shock within the health insurance industry. And UnitedHealthcare has since started looking to upgrade its security for staff. “While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place,” the company said in a statement.
Other insurers have taken similar precautionary steps in the wake of the attack, with government health insurance provider Centene Corp changing its investor day to a virtual event. And Medica, a Minnesota-based non-profit healthcare firm that has about 3,000 employees, said it is temporarily closing all six of its offices. Staff will work from home in a measure the company said was due to an “abundance of caution”.