Police release new photos in the search for the gunman in the UnitedHealthcare CEO killing

NEW YORK -

Warning: The video attached to this article contains disturbing content.

The masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” emblazoned on his ammunition, echoing a phrase used by industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday.

The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation into the shooting early Wednesday outside a Manhattan hotel and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

• Who was UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?

With the gunman still at large, police also released photos of a "person of interest" wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The images, showing an unmasked man in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, add to a collection of photos and video that have circulated since the shooting — including footage of the attack itself, as well as still frames of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand.

Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton across the street, blocks from tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center, where the famed Christmas tree was lit Wednesday night. The reason for the killing remained unknown, but New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.

The messages on the ammunition mimic the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims. It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for denying claims or complicating access to care.

Members of the New York police crime scene unit investigate bullets lying on the sidewalk at the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the Hilton and a cellphone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city's crime lab is examining those items for DNA and fingerprints.

The killing and the shooter’s movements in the minutes before and afterward were captured on some of the multitude of security cameras in that part of the city. The shooter fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park.

A tip that the shooter may have stayed at a hostel brought police Thursday morning to at least two such establishments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos made public Thursday were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel.

“We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement.

Members of the public have flooded police with tips — many unfounded. Police searched a Long Island Rail Road train Wednesday night after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but they found no sign of the gunman.

This still image from surveillance video shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, centre, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo)

“We’re following up on every single tip that comes in,” Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson, said. ”That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together.”

Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer, one of the law enforcement officials told the AP.

Investigators were also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said.

Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle.

Police released several images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning. They've also used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search for the killer, while also interviewing Thompson's coworkers, searching his hotel room and scouring his social media.

This undated photo provided by United Health Group shows United Healthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/United Health Group via AP)

Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years.

His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.

The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson’s death.

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UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than US$281 billion in revenue last year. It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.

In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.

Balsamo reported from Washington.