Photographs showing the face of the suspect who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan have been released as New York City cops continue to search for the identity of the alleged killer.
On Thursday, the NYPD shared two photographs of the killer, including one with the suspect flashing a smile.
“Below are photos of a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide on Dec. 4.” the NYPD said in a statement. “This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premeditated, targeted attack.”
A full investigation was underway with the NYPD offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the suspect. The gunman’s motive, however, still remains a mystery.
Thompson, a 50-year-old Minnesota resident, was due to speak at an investor meeting when he was gunned down at point-blank range around 6:46 a.m. Wednesady outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Manhattan’s 6th Avenue.
Police are calling the crime a “targeted attack.”
Almost two hours earlier, the suspect, a white man dressed entirely in black, was recorded walking outside the Frederick Douglass Houses, a public housing project on the Upper West Side, as early as 5 a.m., according to ABC.
He was next spotted on a Starbucks security camera at West 56th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan approximately 30 minutes before Thompson’s death.
The shooter was then sighted walking alone to the New York Hilton Midtown – where Thomson was scheduled to speak at a conference – about five minutes before the victim arrived, police said.
The suspect then stepped out from behind a car and gunned Thompson down, hitting him in the back and right calf, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
After fleeing the scene, the suspected rode into Central Park on an e-bike at 6:48 a.m., before being recorded cycling out of the park on West 85th Street just before 7 a.m, according to video footage reviewed by CBS.
As the NYPD scrambled to find the killer, police deployed a swathe of investigators – uniformed and plain clothed – dogs, drones and helicopters in the hunt for the assailant, according to The Times.
Investigators were also said to be using facial recognition technology to try to identify the suspect from surveillance images.
According to a report by CNN, police tracked the assailant down to a hostel on 103rd and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. It was there were police obtained one image where the suspect isn’t wearing a mask in his hostel, a law enforcement officer told the outlet.
It is not clear whether the photographs shared on X on the suspect are the same as those mentioned in CNN’s report.
Investigators are now honing in on a series of clues they hope will help identify the killer including a cryptic message left behind at the scene.
According to police sources to ABC News, the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” were carved into some of the live rounds and shell casings left outside the Hilton hotel.
The suspect also appeared to drop a water bottle he had purchased from Starbucks and a cellphone in an alleyway when he fled. Investigators hope the items might be able to provide fingerprint or DNA evidence.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that, based on a preliminary review, the police believe it was “definitely” not a “random act of violence”.
“We believe this was clearly a targeted shooting,” he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Thursday. “In all of my years in law enforcement, I have never seen a silencer before. That was really something that was shocking to us all.”
Adams added: “We’re on the right path, and we believe we’re going to apprehend this person.”
