Geline Salac

Insurance exec killer may have fled New York, police say

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<p>NEW YORK — New York police said Friday they believe the man suspected of gunning down a top health insurance executive may have fled the city on a bus following the brazen daylight murder.</p><p>The development deepens the mystery surrounding the fresh-faced suspect, an image of whom was released by investigators Thursday and who has now been on the run for almost three days.</p><p>The masked assailant was caught on camera entering a bus station in a northern neighborhood of Manhattan in the wake of Wednesday&#x27;s slaying, but he could not be identified exiting the facility on foot, a police spokesman confirmed to AFP.</p><p>&quot;They believe he&#x27;s not in New York City,&quot; the spokesman added.</p><p>Dozens of bus and coach routes run to other US states from the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, according to the operator&#x27;s website.</p><p>The image of the smiling suspect was obtained from a youth hostel where the gunman apparently stayed before the hit, detectives said, with media reporting he lowered his mask to flirt with a receptionist.</p><p>Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Friday that detectives had access to tens of thousands of cameras around the city, allowing them to secure the &quot;money shot&quot; image, a significant breakthrough in the case.</p><p>&quot;We had to go through lots of video evidence to get that one money shot with the mask down,&quot; she told CNN.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/5/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shot-dead-in-new-york-0033">RELATED: UnitedHealthcare CEO shot dead in New York</a></div><p>The gunman sprayed Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare — one of the country&#x27;s largest medical insurers — with bullets in front of bystanders, in an audacious attack captured by a surveillance camera and now seen by millions.</p><p>Thompson was attending an investor conference in the Midtown business district.</p><p>Police have yet to suggest a motive and would not confirm a New York Times report that the words &quot;delay&quot; and &quot;deny&quot; — often used by insurance companies to reject claims — were written on shell casings found at the scene.</p><p>Video footage shows Thompson on the sidewalk outside the New York Hilton Midtown when a man in a hooded top, and with his lower face covered, approaches from behind, then fires several shots at his 50-year-old victim, who crumples to the ground.</p><div><strong>Sprawling investigation<br/></strong></div><p>Camera footage showed the suspect fleeing on foot, before getting on a bicycle — which police initially said may have been a rented e-bike. Police said he went in the direction of Central Park.</p><p>Law enforcement sources said the suspected shooter traveled to New York via bus last month from Atlanta, Georgia — a distance of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers), according to US media Thursday. An NYPD spokesman declined to comment on the claims.</p><p>NYPD chief of detectives Joseph Kenny would not confirm reports that a silencer was used on the murder weapon, saying that the question would be part of the investigation.</p><p>Officers have confirmed that a cell phone as well as DNA from a coffee cup had been recovered from the scene.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/11/15/california-to-cover-more-dreamers-in-state-health-insurance-2119">RELATED: California to cover more &#x27;Dreamers&#x27; in state health insurance</a></div><p>In the absence of an arrest, speculation has been rife that the gunman may have sought to take revenge for adverse medical coverage decisions made by the insurer.</p><p>Thompson&#x27;s wife Paulette Thompson, who is based in Minnesota, told NBC News that he had received unspecified threats.</p><p>&quot;There had been some threats basically I don&#x27;t know — (over) a lack of coverage? I don&#x27;t know details,&quot; said Thompson, who had two children with her late husband.</p><p>In a statement, UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UHC, said it was &quot;deeply saddened and shocked.&quot;</p><p>UnitedHealthcare is a major player in the lucrative American health care market, and the parent group had revenues of $100.8 billion in the third quarter of the year.</p><p>Thompson&#x27;s own compensation package in 2023 was $10.2 million according to a regulatory filing.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rFHVMYaOfA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The masked assailant was caught on camera entering a bus station in a northern neighborhood of Manhattan in the wake of Wednesday's slaying, but he could not be identified exiting the facility on foot, a police spokesman confirmed to AFP.</p>

The masked assailant was caught on camera entering a bus station in a northern neighborhood of Manhattan in the wake of Wednesday's slaying, but he could not be identified exiting the facility on foot, a police spokesman confirmed to AFP.