The gunman wanted in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson hasn’t made it easy for New York police to find him, but he has left behind some confusing clues that could lead to his arrest, experts said Friday .
Despite the fact that the fatal shots were fired in a busy part of Manhattan with numerous security cameras, and despite the fact that he showed his face at the hostel where he was said to have been staying before the fatal shooting, investigators have identified the shooter as had ambushed the 50 people, not yet publicly identified. year-old insurance director early Wednesday.
Former NYPD Detective Michael Alcazar, who is now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, noted that the time before the shooter’s photo was widely released helped him.
“This guy immediately had one day to get out,” Alcazar told NBC News.
“But now that we have his image, I can almost guarantee that detectives have gotten solid leads on who he is, from Crime Stoppers or anyone else looking to collect reward money. They probably already have a lot more information about him than they’re letting on. for the public.”
“That could be the leadership the NYPD needs,” retired NYPD Detective Jillian Snider told MSNBC. ‘This is someone with distinctive features. He has a smile.’
Previously, Tom Verni, who is also a retired NYPD detective, told MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart that it’s only a matter of time before the shooter is identified or arrested now that “his face is plastered” on news sites across the country . He also did not rule out that the killer could still be in New York City.
“In a city like New York City you can disappear into the crowd,” Verni said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny later said they believed the suspect had left New York City. He said they had footage of him getting into a taxi that took him to a Port Authority bus station near 178th Street and Broadway.
“Those buses are interstate buses,” Kenny said. “That’s why we believe he left New York City.”
Thompson was fatally shot in what Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said appeared to be a “premeditated, pre-planned targeted attack” outside the New York Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan. He was on his way to speak at UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference when the gunman approached from behind and “fired several rounds,” Tisch said at a news conference after the fatal shooting.
The gunman had been “lurking for several minutes” before opening fire, Tisch said.
Thompson’s final moments were captured on surveillance camera footage, which showed the gunman approaching him from behind and opening fire. He continued shooting as Thompson fell to the sidewalk, the video showed.
Police said the gunman arrived on the scene about five minutes before the shooting. Thompson, who lived in Minnesota, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West Hospital.
Meanwhile, the gunman fled on foot and then on a rental bicycle, Tisch said. He was last seen in Central Park.
A possible murder motive emerged on Thursday when police revealed that shell casings found at the crime scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them.
UnitedHealthcare has been hit with complaints from thousands of unhappy customers over the years, and Thompson’s wife told NBC News that her late husband had received threats. He did not travel with a security guard.
Alcazar said revenge could be a motive, but he also noticed a few other things when he watched the video.
“Initially I thought it might be a man with some kind of vendetta and that may still be the case given the words found on the shell casings,” Alcazar said. “But if you look at the video, it also shows confidence. He shoots. When it turns out that his gun is jammed, he calmly handles it and starts shooting again.”
So, Alcazar said, “when I work the case, I’m not ruling out, at least not at this point, that this could be a hitman or someone with a military background who has some experience with weapons.”
Alcazar said the fact that no murder weapon was found in itself could also be a clue.
“I think the weapon specifically could be a single-shot weapon, which is very specific,” he said. “A unique weapon choice to execute a target.”
But Verni said he is not convinced Thompson’s killer was a professional.
“A professional hitman would have been more of a ghost” and not kill a man on Midtown Manhattan Street because even at that hour there would likely be witnesses, he said.
The fact that the shooter appeared to be using “some kind of sound suppressor” on his weapon is also “a little strange,” he added.
“But he planned this, that’s for sure,” Verni said.
Investigators previously told NBC News they believe the shooter traveled to New York City by bus from Atlanta last month.
Officials are trying to see if they can find a name on tickets purchased for a Nov. 24 Greyhound trip that could help identify the shooter. Greyhound said it is cooperating with authorities on the investigation.
Police are also investigating whether the gunman paid in cash and used a fake ID to rent a room at a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
Before the shooting, the gunman bought a water bottle and two protein bars at a nearby Starbucks and threw the items away, the sources said.
In addition to the shooting footage, investigators have also found a video showing where the man threw away the purchased items. Police collected them as evidence in the hope it could help in the investigation, an official said.
“There’s also a lot of crime scene processing that still needs to be done,” Alcazar said. “We may know it’s him, but we have to be able to prove it was him and that requires things like collecting and identifying DNA and processing other physical evidence.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
