(Reuters) – Authorities have identified a man suspected of killing UnitedHealth (N 🙂 chief executive Brian Thompson and are closing in on him, New York Mayor Eric Adams was quoted as saying by the New York Times on Saturday. Post.
“The net is tightening,” Adams told reporters at the Police Athletic League holiday party in Harlem, according to the Post. He asked not to be named.
Thompson, 50, who became chief executive of UnitedHealth Insurance in April 2021, was shot in the back at 6:45 a.m. ET (1145 GMT) on Wednesday in what police described as Target attacks by masked attackers waiting.
The murder took place ahead of the company’s annual investment conference at the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue.
The shooting sparked a massive manhunt for the gunman, who ran on foot, wearing a balaclava jacket and a gray backpack, before boarding an electric bicycle and riding into Central Park, police said.
Adams was quoted by the Post as saying that police were cutting the suspect’s name for now to deny his usefulness. One.
“We do not want to release it now,” the mayor said. “If you do this, you are giving basic advice to the person we are looking for and we do not want to give him a high hand at all. Let him continue to believe that he can hide behind a mask.
“We have shown his face,” he said, referring to security camera photos and videos released after the murder. “We will show who he is and we will bring him to justice.”
A backpack resembling the suspect’s backpack was found near a playground in Central Park, according to media reports. MSNBC said Saturday that police searched the bag and its contents, found a jacket and exclusive money, but no weapons.
New York City police said Friday they believe the suspect left New York City after a video emerged showing him boarding a taxi that took him to a bus station.
“We have a video of him entering a port authority bus stop. We do not have a video of him, so we believe he may have boarded the bus,” New York City Police Chief Joseph Kenny told CNN. “Those buses were interstate buses. That is why we believe he may have left New York City.”
Police said the circumstances of the attack indicated that it was premeditated and planned, police said, with a video showing the gunman ignoring other pedestrians while appearing to wait for Thompson. The motive for the killing is unknown.
Security video showed the shooter behind Thompson, lifting his pistol and shooting it in the back. Thompson, a married father of two, suffered gunshot wounds to the back and leg and was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after the attack.
UnitedHealth is the largest US health insurance company, benefiting tens of millions of Americans who spend more on health care than people in any other country.
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