Screenshots from a closed-circuit TV show a person of interest linked to the tragic death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The New York Police Department (NYPD) suspects that this individual left New York City shortly after the incident, reportedly taking a bus from upper Manhattan.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch revealed in a CNN interview that they released unmasked photos of the suspect with the intention of reaching a broader audience beyond the city. Tisch mentioned that police possess substantial evidence, including fingerprints, DNA, and extensive video footage capturing the suspect’s movements across the city.
New York is saturated with government and private surveillance cameras. A dedicated team of officers and prosecutors meticulously analyzes these videos to track suspects by their physical attributes and clothing.
High-ranking NYPD officials shared with CNN that surveillance captured the suspect riding a bike from midtown Manhattan, where Thompson was fatally shot, to Central Park. The footage then shows him leaving the park at West 77th Street on the same bike. Additional video captures the individual walking at West 86th Street and Columbus Avenue before hailing a taxi. This cab reportedly took him about five miles north to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Washington Heights, near the George Washington Bridge.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, the suspect entered the bus terminal. “These buses travel interstate,” Kenny explained to CNN, supporting the theory that the individual may have fled the city.
Authorities are currently working to determine which bus the suspect could have taken. “We’ve footage of him entering the terminal, but none of him leaving, which suggests he boarded a bus,” Kenny noted.
Aside from westbound buses, the terminal also operates shuttle vans that move passengers over the Hudson River’s George Washington Bridge to Fort Lee, New Jersey, and other destinations further west.
Law enforcement sources on Thursday disclosed that the unidentified suspect arrived in Manhattan from Atlanta on a Greyhound bus on November 24. This was precisely two days before UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, was set to host an investor meeting on December 4 at the Hilton Hotel in midtown.
The 50-year-old Thompson was shot just as he approached the Hilton entrance, with the shooter reportedly wearing a mask or neck gaiter.
This situation is ongoing. Stay tuned for further developments.
