The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer three days ago may have quickly left New York City on a bus after escaping on a bicycle and jumping into a taxi, police officials said Friday.
▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS
Video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson showed him driving through Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus station that offers shuttles to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia , Boston and Washington, D.C., Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN.
Police have video of the man entering the bus station but no video of him exiting, leading them to believe he left town, Kenny said. “It’s a very busy bus station, we want to make sure we have the right bus. But that’s what we’re working on now, this is all new information,” he said.
Read > Officers: Victim stabbed 20-70 times in Seminole County murder investigation
Investigators also believe the gunman left a backpack in Central Park and conducted a massive search to find it in a vast area with lakes and ponds, meadows, playgrounds and a densely wooded section called “The Ramble,” said Police Chief Jessica Tisch . As dusk approached Friday, small groups of officers could be seen roaming the leaf-covered ground among the trees.
The reason for the murder remained unknown. New York City police say evidence clearly indicates it was a targeted attack.
The gunman took care to conceal his identity with a mask during the brutal ambush, but still left a trail of evidence in plain sight of the country’s largest city and its network of security cameras. Thompson was shot outside his company’s annual investor conference at a hotel steps from Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Friday that surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan, providing more clues about his actions in the days before the shooting.
Read: Jury awards family of teen who fell during Orlando ride with $310 million
Investigators believe the suspect may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta, said the law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Once in New York, he appeared to pay with cash at every establishment where he was captured on camera, the official said.
Investigators tested a discarded water bottle and a protein bar wrapper in a hunt for his DNA. They also attempted to obtain additional information from a cell phone found along the gunman’s escape route.
Police have released photos of the suspected shooter, taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The footage, which shows an unmasked man smiling in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel, adds to the collection of photos and videos that have circulated since the shooting – including footage of the attack, as well as footage of the suspected shooter in a Starbucks beforehand. .
Read > Woman found dead after falling into sinkhole
Surveillance footage of the shooting shows the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that obscured most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a cold morning.
Investigators learned the man lowered his mask at the hostel’s front desk because he was flirting with the woman checking 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.
Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card, the official said, as he checked into the hostel, which has a cafe and shared and private rooms and is steps from Columbia University.
Investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with firearms, the official said.
Surveillance video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, firing several shots from a pistol equipped with a silencer, barely pausing to clear a jam as the director falls to the sidewalk.
Read: UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting: DNA recovered
The words “deny,” “defend” and “impeach” were scrawled on the ammunition, two law enforcement officials told the AP on Thursday. The messages echo the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” often used by attorneys and critics about insurers delaying payments, denying claims and defending their actions.
Thompson, the father of two sons who lived in suburban Minneapolis, had worked at Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years.
The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., held its annual meeting in New York for investors. The company abruptly ended the conference after Thompson’s death.
UnitedHealth Group said it was focused on supporting Thompson’s family, ensuring employee safety and assisting investigators. “While our hearts are broken, we are touched by the tremendous outpouring,” the company said.
UnitedHealthcare provides coverage to more than 49 million Americans. It administers employer health insurance and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.
In October, UnitedHealthcare, along with Humana and CVS, was named in a Senate report detailing how the prior authorization denial rate for some Medicare Advantage patients has soared in recent years.
The shooting has particularly shocked corporate America and the health insurance industry, causing companies to reassess their security plans and remove photos of executives from their websites. Another Minnesota-based health care company said Friday it was temporarily closing its offices out of an abundance of caution and telling employees to work from home.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
