Authorities believe the person of interest in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel may have left New York City through a busy bus terminal, a police official said Friday.
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters that video shows the man riding a bike in Central Park, then taking a taxi to the Port Authority bus station close to the George Washington Bridge.
Investigators are looking for additional video to see if he took a bus from there, and if so which one.
“It’s a very busy bus terminal,” Kenny told CNN Friday. “We want to make sure we have the right bus, but we’re working through that right now. It’s all new information.”
Investigators have also located a water bottle that may have been discarded by the shooter and collected shell casings with cryptic words on them. On Thursday, the New York Police Department released photos of the person they believe is the gunman. But the shooter’s identity, whereabouts and motive remain a mystery.
Amid the manhunt Friday night, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman — on top of the combined $10,000 already offered by Crime Stoppers and the NYPD.
As the investigation continued Saturday, there was still no identification of a suspect, three sources familiar told NBC News.
Here’s everything we know about the Wednesday morning shooting.
Gunman was ‘lying in wait for several minutes’
Thompson, dressed in a suit, was on his way to speak at UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday when a gunman approached him from behind and shot him at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf outside of the New York Hilton Midtown hotel.
Security video showed Thompson stumbling forward after the first shot as a person standing nearby ran to safety. The shooter, walking toward Thompson, cleared a jam in the gun before continuing to fire, the video showed. Thompson fell, and the shooter fled on foot before mounting an electric bike.
It is believed he used a firearm with a silencer, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Thompson, 50, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West.
“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday.
The shooter was “lying in wait for several minutes,” she said, calling it a “premeditated, preplanned targeted attack.”
Kenny said the gunman arrived at the scene about five minutes before the shooting.
Police said the gunman was wearing a black hoodie and black pants and carrying a gray backpack. Investigators found a gray bag in Central Park and are looking into whether it may have been the one carried by the suspected shooter, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Four sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News on Saturday that no gun was found in the backpack. Three sources said there was a jacket inside of the bag, but it remains unclear whether it is the jacket the suspect wore at the time of the shooting.
Some Monopoly money was also found in the backpack, two sources told NBC News.
The NYPD was back in Central Park on Saturday, searching for other evidence near where the backpack was found, as well as in wooded sections of the park and in fountain areas.
Thompson received threats before his death, wife says
Paulette Thompson told NBC News on Wednesday that her husband had been receiving threats, but she was unclear of their nature.
“There had been some threats,” she said. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
Police in Thompson’s hometown of Maple Grove, Minnesota, said they had not been notified of threats against him, Commander Jonathan Wetternach said Wednesday.
Despite the threats, Thompson did not travel with security.
“Speaking to other employees that traveled with him to New York, it doesn’t seem like he had a security detail,” Kenny told reporters. “He left the hotel by himself, was walking, didn’t seem like he had any issues at all.”
No current or former executives of UnitedHealth Group receive regular company-funded personal security service, according to the insurance giant’s two most recent proxy statements. Companies have to report security expenses for corporate officers or directors if the value exceeds $10,000 per year.
Former FBI supervisor Rob D’Amico said he believes Thompson’s death has all the makings of a personal vendetta tied to his company.
Thompson’s family said they are “shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian.”
“Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives,” the family said in a statement obtained by NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis.
‘Deny,’ ‘delay’ and ‘depose’ written on ammunition
A senior New York City law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said Thursday that shell casings found at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them, but police clarified Friday that it was “delay” and not “defend.”
It’s not yet known if the messages could indicate a motive.
“Based on the evidence we have so far, it does appear the victim was specifically targeted,” Kenny, the NYPD chief of detectives, said earlier this week. “But at this point, we do not know why.”
Police also recovered a cellphone near the scene.
Investigators are trying to work off that cellphone to try to learn more about the suspect’s contacts and the movements he may have made, two sources familiar with the probe said.
Who is the shooter?
The gunman remains at large, but investigators have been able to gather some information about him.
Police believe he may have traveled to New York City last month by Greyhound bus, three senior law enforcement officials familiar with the case told NBC News. The bus left from Atlanta.
Officials in New York are looking into whether they can find a name used for the Nov. 24 trip. Greyhound has said it is cooperating with authorities on the investigation. Atlanta police officials said Friday they were contacted by the NYPD and will provide assistance as needed.
Three sources told NBC News that police are in Atlanta and will be searching for video from that bus station — as well as other stations along the Greyhound route to New York City — for possible clues.
While in New York, the shooter stayed at a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Police are looking into whether the gunman paid in cash and used a fake ID to rent a room, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
Police were able to obtain an unmasked picture of the alleged gunman smiling while at the hostel.
Footage was released that may show the gunman exiting a subway station about half an hour before the shooting. Investigators also learned that he visited a Starbucks before the shooting and purchased a water bottle and two protein bars, according to a senior New York City law enforcement official.
Detectives recovered a video showing where he discarded the items, and police collected them as evidence, hoping they could aid in the investigation, the official said.
