Search warrant sought for UWS location where UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect is thought to be hiding as surveillance video pinpoints gunman who killed Brian Thompson leaving a public housing project early Wednesday morning.
Authorities have sought to obtain a search warrant for a building in NYC’s Upper West Side where they may believe the shooting suspect who killed Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare CEO may be hiding.
The urgent request comes as the shooter was observed in surveillance video at 5 a.m on the morning of the shooting outside Frederick Douglass Houses, a public housing project on the Upper West Side. The footage showed the suspect carrying what appeared to be an e-bike battery, ABC11 reported.
The revelation comes as the un-identified suspect was seen moments after gunning down the health insurance boss, circa 6.45a.m, Wednesday morning, fleeing the scene on a Citi Bike.
The alleged killer was last seen cycling out of Central Park on West 85th Street just before 7 a.m. about 12 minutes after cycling into the park on what was thought to be a Citi Bike, according to footage obtained by NBC News. The assailant has since remained at large.
Police initially said the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle from the city’s bike-share program, CitiBike. But a spokesperson for the program’s operator, Lyft, said police officials informed the company Wednesday afternoon that the bike was not from the CitiBike fleet.
During his escape, the gunman appeared to drop a water bottle he had purchased from Starbucks 30 minutes before the attack, which could provide vital DNA evidence in helping identify the suspect.
Thompson, a 50-year-old Minnesota resident, was due to speak at an investor meeting when he was gunned down at point blank range around 6:45 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown on 6th Avenue. Police are calling the crime a ‘targeted attack.’
Further igniting theories as to what may have motivated the gunman are cryptic messages on the bullets used to kill the insurance CEO, with the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” allegedly inscribed on live rounds and shell casing found at the scene.
The cryptic messages closely resemble the title of a 2010 book on ‘why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it’, called ‘Delay, Deny, Defend’ authored by Jay M. Feinman.
One noted difference is that the book has ‘delay’ in its title, whereas one casing reportedly had ‘depose’ on it.
Critics allege the tactic is used by insurance companies to ‘ensure your claim is either never paid or paid at a rate far below what you deserve’.
Investigators believe the suspect may have held a grudge against the insurance company.
They are checking every dispute or contested denial of service brought against the company, as well as running down every threat made against the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
The gunman is described as 6’1″ with a tall, thin build, wearing a black jacket, black hat, black ski mask, and black backpack. He ran through the midblock Ziegfeld Alleyway and eventually jumped on a bike and rode away into Central Park.
