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Two photos of the fatal shooting suspect UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson are released, as the New York police discover the identity of the attacker.
Earlier Thursday morning, police revealed they had found the image gunman without a mask, according to CNN.
At approximately 11:20 a.m. ET NYPD shared two photos of the killer in a post on X, including one in which the suspect was smiling.
“Below are photos of a person of interest for questioning in connection with a homicide in midtown Manhattan on December 4th.” The NYPD said in a statement accompanying the photos. “This does not appear to be a random act of violence; everything points to this being a targeted and premeditated attack.”
A full investigation was underway as of noon, and the NYPD offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the suspect. However, the attacker’s motive still remains a mystery.
Thompson, a 50 year resident of Minnesotahe was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting when he was shot dead in close proximity around 6:46 a.m. in front New York Hilton Midtown on Manhattan’s 6th Avenue. Police are calling the crime a “targeted attack.”
Nearly two hours earlier, the suspect, a white man dressed in black, was first filmed walking outside the Frederick Douglass House, a public housing project on the Upper West Side, as early as 5:00 a.m., according to ABC.
He was then spotted on a Starbucks security camera on West 56th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan about 30 minutes before Thompson’s death on Wednesday morning.
The killer was then spotted walking alone to New York Hilton Midtown – Where Thomson was to speak at the conference – about five minutes before the victim arrived, police said.
The suspect then came out from behind the car and shot Thompson, hitting him in the back and right calf, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
As the NYPD tried to find the killer, police deployed a group of investigators — in uniform and in plain clothes — dogs, drones and helicopters to hunt down the gunman, the statement said. The Times.
Investigators also used facial recognition technology to try to identify the suspect from surveillance footage.
According to a CNN report, police tracked the gunman to a hostel at 103rd and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.
Police there took one usable picture of him not wearing a mask in his hostel, the law enforcement official said.
It is not clear if the photos of the suspect posted on Xu are the same as those mentioned in the CNN report.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that, based on a preliminary examination, police believe it was “definitely” not a “random act of violence.”
“We believe this was clearly a targeted shooting,” he said Thursday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “In all my years in law enforcement, I’ve never seen a silencer before. It was really something that shocked us all.”
Adams added: “We are well on our way and we believe we will arrest this individual.”
This is a breaking story. More to come.