Images of Unmasked Suspect Emerge as the Police Track C.E.O.’s Killer
The New York Times
The man sought in the killing of Brian Thompson wore a hood and a smile in surveillance photos. Investigators visited a hostel on the Upper West Side as they mapped his movements.
Security-camera images of a man wearing a hooded jacket and an easy smile. A cellphone found on a Manhattan sidewalk. Bullets marked with the words “deny” and “delay.”
Investigators chased those and other leads on Thursday as the search for the person who fatally shot the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, a huge health insurer, outside a Midtown hotel stretched into a second day.
As the manhunt for the suspect in the brazen slaying of the executive, Brian Thompson, continued, law enforcement authorities appeared to be focused on a hostel where they believed the shooter stayed the night before the killing and on a gun bought in Connecticut that resembled the one used in what the police say was a targeted attack.
The shooting stunned a city heading into a festive holiday season, shocked an industry that regarded the victim highly and touched off an ugly outpouring among those who view health insurers as villains.
By Thursday, amid the schadenfreude and grief, the shock had receded as investigators pursued their quarry methodically and New Yorkers were left to wonder when the shooter would be caught.
The police offered a $10,000 reward for information about the killing, and said they were digging into Mr. Thompson’s background and exploring social media for clues.
