(Reuters) -Authorities have identified the man suspected of killing UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson and are closing in on him, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was quoted as saying on Saturday by the New York Post. “The net is tightening,” Adams told reporters at a Police Athletic League holiday party in Harlem, according to the Post. He declined to name the suspect. Thompson, 50, who became CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit in April 2021, was shot in the back around 6:45 a.m. ET (1145 GMT) on Wednesday in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant lying in wait.
The murder occurred just before the company’s annual investor conference at the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue. The shooting sparked a massive manhunt for the gunman, who fled on foot wearing a hooded jacket, balaclava and gray backpack before mounting an electric bike and riding into Central Park, police said. Adams was quoted by the Post as saying the police were withholding the suspect’s name for now to deny him any advantage.
“We don’t want to release that now,” the mayor said. “If you do, you are basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask.” “We revealed his face,” he continued, referring to security camera photos and video released after the murder. “We’re going to reveal who he is and we’re going to bring him to justice.”
A backpack resembling the one worn by the suspect has been recovered near a playground in Central Park, according to media reports. MSNBC said on Saturday that police examining the bag and its contents found a jacket and Monopoly money, but no firearm. Police divers were searching for the weapon used in the killing in a pond in Central Park on Saturday, CNN reported, citing police sources. Reuters has not independently verified the account. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN on Friday that police have gathered “a huge amount of evidence,” including fingerprints, DNA evidence and a camera footage of the suspect’s movements throughout the city.
New York police said on Friday they believe the suspect had left New York City, after video emerged showing him climbing into a taxi that took him to a bus station.
“We have video of him entering the Port Authority Bus Terminal. We don’t have any video of him exiting so we believe he may have gotten on a bus,” New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. “Those buses are interstate buses. That’s why we believe he may have left New York City.” The New York police have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the shooter and the FBI has added $50,000 to that reward. The circumstances of the attack suggested it was premeditated and planned, police said, with video showing the gunman ignoring other pedestrians while appearing to wait for Thompson. The shooter’s motive is not yet known.
Security video showed the shooter behind Thompson, raising his handgun and firing at his back. Thompson, a married father of two, suffered gunshot wounds to his back and leg and was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after the attack. UnitedHealth is the largest U.S. health insurer, providing benefits to tens of millions of Americans, who pay more for healthcare than people in any other country.
