After the United Healthcare chief executive Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday morning in a “brazen targeted attack”, clue after clue swiftly emerged.
Surveillance video seems to show the shooter leaving a nearby subway station at 6.15am and buying two energy bars, as well as a bottle of water, at a nearby Starbucks, CNN reported.
Moments later, the suspect, sporting a brown jacket, face mask and grey backpack, is recorded meandering near a deli and, about 6.30am, appears to be using the phone, video surveillance seemingly shows. About a half-hour after leaving the subway, video shows him walking to the hotel where Thompson was headed for United’s yearly investor conference, and waiting outside.
The suspect approached Thompson from behind and opened fire, then approached him and kept shooting, continuing on his rampage even after pausing to fix a gun jam. The gunman crossed the street, slipped through an alley, and hopped on an ebike. He then headed north towards Central Park.
As police scoured the scene and expanded search efforts, the plethora of evidence grew. Police sources told the New York Post that bullets used in Thompson’s death appeared to be adorned with the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend”.
As these words are similar to the 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, they have prompted questions whether this shooting relates to criticism of the health insurance industry.
Police reportedly discovered a water bottle and cellphone in the alley through which the shooter fled. The best clue might have emerged at an Upper West Side hostel, in surveillance video. He lowered his mask, in what CNN described as a “flirtatious moment”, and flashed a broad smile at a female employee.
Despite the ample surveillance footage, adorned bullets, and physical evidence, the shooter remains unidentified and at large for a crime committed in one of this nation’s most policed cities. In fact, police said on Friday that investigators believed the gunman had fled New York City, according to the Associated Press.
His motive remains unknown and speculation has run rampant: was the shooting a professional hit, or was the killer just disgruntled with an unpopular health insurer? Or are there other reasons as yet unknown?
Other high-profile killings offer lessons in not leaping to conclusions after they spawned incorrect theories about motive. Cash App founder Bob Lee’s 2023 killing in San Francisco spawned theories about homeless killers and commentary on violent urban crime. But the accused killer, Nima Momeni, was a consultant whom prosecutors said was avenging an attack on his sister by Lee’s alleged drug dealer, to whom he believed the tech guru introduced her. Jurors are deliberating in that case.
In New York City, Anthony Comello was charged with the 2019 killing of Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, a purported leader in the Gambino mob family. Before Comello was arrested, the death had sparked concerns about the possibility of a mob war. As it turned out, the suspect believed he was helping Donald Trump and believed Cali to be part of the “deep state”.
Vernon J Geberth, a retired NYPD lieutenant-commander who wrote Practical Homicide Investigation, widely considered to be the seminal textbook on murder inquiries, does not believe that the suspect is a professional killer.
“It’s too personal, from my perspective,” said Geberth, who is not involved in the investigation but offering his view based on his years of experience. “Just leaving some of those clues, it’s like somebody making a statement.
“Professional people don’t make statements – they just do the job.”
While there is a lot of evidence, Geberth said, that does not necessarily make for immediate capture of a suspect. Police could glean fingerprints and DNA from the water bottle or cellphone, for example, but that doesn’t lead to a suspect if this information isn’t in a database to which law enforcement has access.
“This person could be someone who never committed a crime before in his life,” Geberth said. “If you’re not in the system, you’re not in the system.”
Geberth said he thinks the killer will be caught as footage of the suspect’s face is now available to the public across America and the world.
“His face is all over the TV right now, there’s a $10,000 reward,” Geberth said. “Somebody, somewhere is going to know him because this case is being covered internationally.”
Mary Ellen O’Toole, who worked as an FBI profiler integral to capturing the Unabomber killer, said the killer exhibited dedicated behavior, but made some mistakes.
Looking at the initial set of facts, “it tells me that the shooter did some homework – quite a bit of planning”. O’Toole noted that the shooting unfolded outside a large hotel, with multiple entrances, but still knew how to make contact with the victim.
“Where did he get that information? We don’t know.”
O’Toole also noted that the gun had a suppressor on it, which is placed on the barrel of a gun to make firing less audible.
“The shooter appears to have planned for an outdoor shooting. Unless you subdued the sound, it could draw attention to you,” O’Toole said “At the same time, having a suppressor on a gun in this shooter’s mind could have just been a cool thing, so it doesn’t just have to be one way or the other.”
Among the most interesting aspects for O’Toole: the shooter kept his cool when his gun jammed, which can be difficult even for trained law enforcement professionals.
“When you’re at the range, sometimes, when people’s guns jam, it can be aggravating, it can be stressful, it can make you angry,” O’Toole said. “If you watch the video of the shooter, there was none of that.
“There was no conversation between the shooter and the victim. He came there not to have a conversation – he came there to kill a CEO.”
As for the trail of evidence left behind, O’Toole believes investigators are keeping an open mind about the fact the suspect left behind casings and bullets, as well as a water bottle nearby.
“They are considering, I’m sure, that those were left there as a ruse or he let his guard down,” O’Toole said. “A good analyst or a good investigator is not going to get locked into one theory.” New York City mayor Eric Adams, who is under indictment for alleged bribery and campaign contribution offenses, said on Friday police were working quickly to catch the killer.
“When you look at the number of hours from the shooting of a fully masked individual and having to bring him to justice, you realize how fast the New York City police department is moving,” Adams said on the 1010 WINS Morning Drive radio show.
“Clearly, this was not a random act. Our preliminary investigation sees this as a targeted shooting, but we are moving closer to apprehending him and taking this dangerous person off the streets of our country.”
Associated Press contributed reporting