{"id":117840,"date":"2024-12-06T20:22:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T20:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/gunmans-steps-after-killing-unitedhealthcares-ceo-gives-police-new-clues-in-hunt-for-the-killer-the-associated-press\/"},"modified":"2024-12-06T20:22:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T20:22:30","slug":"gunmans-steps-after-killing-unitedhealthcares-ceo-gives-police-new-clues-in-hunt-for-the-killer-the-associated-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/gunmans-steps-after-killing-unitedhealthcares-ceo-gives-police-new-clues-in-hunt-for-the-killer-the-associated-press\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunman's steps after killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO gives police new clues in hunt for the killer – The Associated Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
New York police released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Two law enforcement officials say a masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies on a Manhattan sidewalk used ammunition emblazoned with the words \u201cdeny,\u201d \u201cdefend\u201d and \u201cdepose.\u201d AP reporter Jake Offenhartz explains. (AP video by Joseph R. Frederick, Ted Shaffrey, and John Minchillo)
This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
New York Police community affairs officers enter the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police investigators arrive at the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police investigators exit the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
Members of the media line a sidewalk outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
A man crosses the street outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
A woman crosses Amsterdam Avenue outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
This still image from surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo)
New York police released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Two law enforcement officials say a masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies on a Manhattan sidewalk used ammunition emblazoned with the words \u201cdeny,\u201d \u201cdefend\u201d and \u201cdepose.\u201d AP reporter Jake Offenhartz explains. (AP video by Joseph R. Frederick, Ted Shaffrey, and John Minchillo)
This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)
New York Police community affairs officers enter the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police community affairs officers enter the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police investigators arrive at the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police investigators arrive at the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police investigators exit the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Police investigators exit the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
Members of the media line a sidewalk outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
Members of the media line a sidewalk outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
A man crosses the street outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
A man crosses the street outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
A woman crosses Amsterdam Avenue outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
A woman crosses Amsterdam Avenue outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)
This still image from surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo)
This still image from surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The gunman who killed<\/a><\/span> the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer made sure to wear a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence in view of the nation\u2019s biggest city and its network of security cameras that have aided authorities piecing together his movements and his identity.<\/p>\n

A law enforcement official said Friday that new surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan and provided more clues about his actions in the days before he ambushed<\/a><\/span> UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The gunman\u2019s whereabouts and identity remained unknown Friday, as did the reason for Wednesday\u2019s killing. New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack<\/a><\/span>. <\/p>\n

Investigators believe the suspect may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta, according to the law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. <\/p>\n

Once arriving in New York, he always appeared to pay with cash in establishments where he was captured on camera, the official said. <\/p>\n

Investigators have tested a discarded water bottle<\/a><\/span> and protein bar wrapper in a hunt for his DNA. They also were trying to obtain additional information from a cellphone recovered from a pedestrian plaza where the gunman fled after shooting Thompson outside his company\u2019s annual investor conference at a hotel just blocks from Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center. <\/p>\n

The shooter then got on a bicycle, riding though an area dotted with security cameras. He was last seen disappearing into the southern tip of Central Park near the famed Plaza Hotel after crossing a street that\u2019s often bustling with joggers, horse-drawn carriages and taxis.<\/p>\n

Police have released photos of a person wanted for questioning in connection with the killing that were taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side. The images, showing an unmasked man smiling in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel, add to a collection of photos and video circulated since the shooting \u2014 including footage of the attack itself, as well as images of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand.<\/p>\n

Surveillance images from the shooting show the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face \u2014 a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning.<\/p>\n

Investigators have learned the man lowered his mask at the front desk of the hostel because he was flirting with the woman who checked him in, the law enforcement official told the AP, leading to a photo of his face. The woman told investigators that during that encounter she asked to see his smile and he pulled down his mask, the official said.<\/p>\n

Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card, the official said, when he checked in at the hostel, which has a caf\u00e9 along with shared and private rooms and is just blocks from Columbia University.<\/p>\n

Employees who work at the hostel told investigators they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them or walking by the front desk. The person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man in surveillance images, the official said.<\/p>\n

Investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns, the official said.<\/p>\n

Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, firing several shots with a gun equipped with a silencer, barely pausing to clear a jam while the executive fell to the sidewalk. <\/p>\n

The words \u201cdeny,\u201d \u201cdefend\u201d and \u201cdepose\u201d were scrawled on the ammunition, two law enforcement officials told the AP on Thursday. The messages mirror the phrase \u201cdelay, deny, defend,\u201d which is commonly used<\/a><\/span> by lawyers and critics about insurers<\/a><\/span> that delay payments,<\/a><\/span> deny claims and defend their actions. <\/p>\n

Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years. <\/p>\n

The insurer\u2019s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York for investors. The company abruptly ended the conference after Thompson\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

UnitedHealth Group said it was focused on supporting Thompson\u2019s family, ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators. \u201cWhile our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans. It manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.<\/p>\n

In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.<\/p>\n

The shooting has shaken corporate America and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to reevaluate security plans<\/a><\/span> and delete photos of executives from their websites. A different Minnesota-based health care company said Friday it was temporarily closing its offices out of an abundance of caution, telling employees to work from home.<\/p>\n

Balsamo reported from Washington. Jake Offenhartz and Karen Matthews in New York, John Seewar in Toledo, Ohio, and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this story.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.New York police released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Two law enforcement officials say a masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies on a Manhattan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}