Police release photos showing face of suspect in killing of insurance CEO in New York

NEW YORK – The authorities have released two images they said showed the face of the man they believe

fatally shot the chief executive

of one of the largest health insurers in the country. Investigators seemed closer to identifying the gunman on Dec 5, a day after the shooting took place outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan.

While investigators have not established a motive for the killing, the gunman appeared to have targeted the executive, Mr Brian Thompson, 50, of UnitedHealthcare, the authorities said, waiting for him on the morning of Dec 4 before firing several shots that left him crumpled and dying on the pavement.

The authorities said they had several leads and were focusing on a man who stayed at an Upper West Side hostel.

Investigators were also looking into the purchase of a gun in Connecticut that resembled the weapon used in the shooting.

Police said they were investigating messages found on bullet casings at the scene of the shooting. The words include “delay” and “deny”, possible references to ways that health insurance companies seek to avoid paying patients’ claims.

The two images released on Dec 5 show a man with his mask lowered. The images released on Dec 4, taken from surveillance videos, showed a person in a dark hooded jacket, a black face-covering and a grey backpack.

At the hostel, the suspect shared a room with two other men unknown to him, according to a senior law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. On Dec 5, a scrum of journalists gathered outside the HI New York City Hostel, near 103rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. A police flyer about the manhunt was pinned on a nearby lamppost.

Mayor Eric Adams, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said he believed investigators were on the right path and were “going to apprehend this person”.

The authorities had still not learnt the name of the suspect, but were pursuing several leads, according to a senior law enforcement official. Efforts to compare some possible names for the suspect with the photos released on Dec 5 were inconclusive.

Detectives, dogs and drones fanned out across the city after the shooting in an attempt to trace the movements of the suspected gunman, whom police described as “proficient” with firearms. Officers recovered a cellphone near the scene of the attack and were exploring whether it is connected to the shooting.

The gunman appears to have used a suppressor, an attachment long associated with Hollywood hit men but rarely seen in real-life murders. “In all of my years of law enforcement, I have never seen a silencer before,” Mr Adams said. Sales of them have skyrocketed in popularity – nearly five million are registered in the United States, up from 285,000 in 2011.

The grey backpack carried by the gunman appears to be one sold by Peak Design, a company that specialises in bags that sell for up to US$330 (S$442). The police have not identified what kind of backpack the gunman had, but at a news conference, Mr Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives, described it as “distinctive”, and the founder of Peak Design called the Police Department’s tip line to identify it as one of his products.

Police offered a US$10,000 reward for information about Mr Thompson’s killing, and said they were also exploring his background and social media for clues. Mr Thompson had recently received several threats, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. Police were still investigating the source and nature of those threats, the official said.

The brazen killing of Mr Thompson has unleashed a torrent of criticism of insurance companies over claim denials, in particular the one he led, UnitedHealthcare. As one of the nation’s largest health insurers, covering more than 50 million people, the company has battled a range of complaints and investigations from patients, doctors and lawmakers for its denial of medical claims. NYTIMES