New York (Reuters) – New York police believe the man who fatally shot a high-ranking UnitedHealth executive has left the city, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on Friday, as the search for the shooter continues. passes the crucial 48-hour mark.
Brian Thomson, 50, CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit, was shot in the back on Wednesday in what police said was a targeted attack. Police released several photos of the suspect — who fled the scene, got on an electric bike and disappeared into Central Park — and asked for the public’s help in locating him.
However, Tisch said in an interview with CNN this Friday that authorities now believe he has left town, after new video footage emerged.
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New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, in the same interview, stated that the images show the suspect getting into a taxi that took him to the Port Authority bus station.
“We have video of him entering the Port Authority bus terminal. We don’t have any video of him leaving, so we believe he may have caught a bus,” he said. “These buses are intercity buses. That’s why we believe he left New York City.”
The expanded search comes after security experts warned that the first 48 hours after such a crime is the best window of opportunity to capture the shooter, a time frame that has now passed.
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“The clock is ticking,” said Felipe Rodriguez, a former NYPD detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “They have not yet recovered the weapon, the bicycle and the backpack. The more time passes, the more they may be missing vital pieces of evidence.”
Rodriguez said solving the case is like putting together a difficult puzzle.
“You start at the edges and go to the center, but now they might not have all the pieces. But the case is progressing,” he said.
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Photos and clues
Police believe the suspect arrived in New York 10 days before the attack on a Greyhound bus from Atlanta and checked into a Manhattan hostel using a fake New Jersey ID, multiple media outlets reported. Reuters has not independently verified this information.
Police have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
UnitedHealth is the largest health insurer in the United States, offering benefits to tens of millions of Americans, who pay more for health care than any other country.
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Thompson joined UnitedHealth in 2004 and became CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a unit of the UnitedHealth group, in April 2021.
Enhanced security
Following the attack, UnitedHealth and several other health insurers, including CVS Health and Centene, removed photos of executives from their corporate websites in an apparent security measure.
Centene said on Thursday night that it would no longer hold an in-person event for investors next week, and that the event would be broadcast live.
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The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were engraved on bullet casings found at the scene, law enforcement sources told ABC and the New York Post. A spokesperson for the New York Police Department declined to comment on this report.
The words evoke the title of Jay Feinman’s 2010 book criticizing the insurance industry: “Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.” that insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it).
Feinman, professor emeritus at Rutgers University School of Law, declined to comment.
