CEO killing ammunition emblazoned with words
There is speculation the words on the ammunition may have referred to strategies US health insurance companies allegedly use to try to avoid paying claims.
A masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest US health insurance companies outside a New York hotel used ammunition emblazoned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose”, according to authorities.
The law enforcement official was not authorised to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush on Wednesday (local time) as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan. The hotel is just blocks from major New York tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art.
Brian Thompson was killed in a ‘targeted’ attack outside a New York hotel. Photo: United Health Group
The reason for the killing remains unknown.
However, there is speculation the words on the ammunition may have referred to strategies US health insurance companies allegedly use to try to avoid paying claims.
Some media have also pointed to a 2010 book by Jay Feinman, Delay, deny, defend, on the insurance industry.
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Feinman had no comment when asked about the development by Britain’s Sky News.
Investigators recovered several nine-millimetre shell casings from outside the hotel and a mobile phone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled, NYPD chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said earlier.
The killing and the shooter’s movements in the minutes before and afterward were captured on some of the multitudes of security cameras in that part of the city.
Images provided by the New York City Police Department show an unmasked man it said was wanted for questioning and a person of interest.
The person was in a hostel on the Upper West Side in New York City, CNN reported.
Police have issued images of a ‘person of interest’ in the killing of Brian Thompson. Photo: AAP
The hunt for the shooter brought New York City police on Thursday morning to at least two hostels on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. That was based on a tip that the suspected shooter may have stayed at one of the residences, according to a second law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the ongoing search.
Two detectives arrived at the Kama Central Park hostel with a photo of the shooter and asked staff if they recognised the man, an employee confirmed to the AP.
They did not, the employee said, and the detectives left.
An employee at the nearby HI New York City hostel also confirmed that police had been there on Thursday, but declined to provide further information.
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No random act
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on Wednesday that while investigators had not yet established a motive, the shooting was no random act of violence.
“Many people passed the suspect but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” she said.
With surveillance video and evidence collected from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some prior firearms training and experience with guns. His weapon was equipped with a silencer, according to one of the law enforcement officials who spoke with the AP.
Investigators are also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said.
The shooter fled on a bike and was last seen riding into Central Park.
Authorities were running DNA and fingerprint analysis on items found nearby, including a water bottle, that they believe the suspect may have discarded, the official said.
Security camera video shows the killer approach Thompson from behind, level his pistol and fire several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the health executive tumbled to the footpath.
Other cameras captured the initial stages of the gunman’s escape.
He fled the block across a pedestrian plaza, then escaped on the bicycle.
Police used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search but the killer has not been seen since.
Police issued several surveillance images of the man, who wore a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face and would not have attracted attention on a frigid day.
Some of the photos were taken at a Starbucks coffee shop shortly before the shooting.
Police offered a reward of up to $US10,000 ($15,500) for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
-with AAP
