A photo showing a masked man smiling — with his mask down — may provide crucial clues that could help lead to the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
A photo released by the New York Police Department shows a man who authorities call a “person wanted for questioning” in Wednesday’s killing. A law enforcement official told CNN he was captured flirting with a female employee at a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side where he was staying.
The employee asked the man to lower his mask at the time the photos released by authorities on Thursday were captured, the official told CNN.
The photos taken at the hostel are among the key pieces of evidence investigators have as they search for the shooter who is still at large after the healthcare executive was gunned down in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning.
Investigators also have a trail of surveillance video and the suspect is believed to have dropped a burner phone and a water bottle while fleeing the shooting scene — first on foot and then by bike — as well as ammunition labeled “deposit” and “delay” at the scene, sources told CNN.
How the suspect got to New York City
Police said video of the brazen killing in front of pedestrians in a busy Manhattan area helped investigators determine the suspect’s first steps after the shooting.
The masked gunman waited for Thompson outside the Hilton Midtown shortly before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, then shot him multiple times before fleeing down an alley and boarding an electric bike. He was last seen at 6:48 a.m. walking toward Central Park, New York police said.
Thompson, who lives in Minnesota, was headed to the hotel to attend his company’s annual investor conference but died less than half an hour later.
New details are now emerging about the suspect’s movements in the days before the shootings.
The suspected gunman traveled on a Greyhound bus originating from Atlanta, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN. Authorities do not know whether the suspect boarded the bus in Atlanta or elsewhere, the sources said.
Police believe the attacker arrived at New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal on Nov. 24 — 10 days before the shootings — then stopped at an Upper West Side hostel, a law enforcement official said.
After that, he continued to wander around the city, the official said.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that the suspected shooter appeared to wear a mask throughout his stay at the hostel. One source said he was housed in a multi-person room with two other men.
The suspect checked out of the hostel on Nov. 29 and checked back in on Nov. 30, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN.
According to a source, he paid the institution in cash — then checked into the dorm using a fake New Jersey driver’s license, a law enforcement official previously told CNN.
Clues from the crime scene
Police are still trying to figure out where the suspect got the e-bike, though investigators are developing clues from a burner phone and a water bottle that the gunman is believed to have dropped as he fled the shooting scene.
A fingerprint was lifted from the water bottle, a law enforcement official told CNN. However, the print is blurry, making it less conclusive, the official said.
Investigators said the phone could yield fingerprints, DNA and — if police technicians can unlock the phone — other clues to the suspect’s identity. Even a disposable burner phone could provide clues about communications and manhunts before the shooting. As of Thursday afternoon, police are still trying to access that phone, a law enforcement official said.
Authorities are searching the area but have not found the gunman’s bike or weapon.
Law enforcement sources told CNN on Thursday that a shell casing recovered from one of the bullets fired at Thompson had the word “depose” written on it, while “delay” was written on a live round that was ejected by the shooter while clearing a jam. Police are investigating whether the words found indicate a motive, pointing to a popular phrase in the insurance industry: “Delay, Deny, Defend.”