Cops zone in on Citi Bike route used by UnitedHealthcare CEOs killer as MAJOR shooting detail remains in dispute
Detectives investigating the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have been honing in on the bike route used by his killer to flee the scene - but one major detail remains in dispute.
Detectives investigating the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have been honing in on the bike route used by his killer to flee the scene - but one major detail remains in dispute.
Officers probing the early-morning shooting of Thompson, 50, had originally thought that the assailant fled on an electric Citi Bike near the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan.
The New York Times reported that by early afternoon, officers had gathered at the nearby bike share kiosk and were asking doormen for video footage of the station.
Police had said in their initial brief that the killer escaped into Central Park on the electric bike and released an image of the suspect on a bike after the shooting.
That scenario was put into doubt on Wednesday afternoon when a spokesperson for the bike share operator Lyft said that police officials had informed them that it was not from their fleet.
Sources have since told CNN that they have surveillance footage of the suspect on Manhattans Upper West Side carrying a battery for an electric bike.
They told the outlet that believe the suspect may have taken the subway into Midtown prior to the shooting, and are investigating whether he had a bike already at the scene.
Footage captured of the shooting shows Thompson walking alone outside the entrance to the midtown hotel when the gunman steps into frame and opens fire.
The masked killer draws out a large gun fitted with a silencer and shots him in the back, sending the CEO stumbling down the street.
Police had said in their initial preliminary brief that the killer escaped into Central Park on the electric bike and released an image of the suspect on a bike after the shooting, seen here
Officials have yet to establish a motive in the killing but sources told ABC 7 they are investigating a possible grudge against the insurance company, Thompson is seen here in an undated picture
Several bystanders were seen in the footage witnessing the horror shooting, with one woman standing mere feet away from the gunman when he opened fire.
Witnesses said the gunman was seen waiting for some time outside the hotel before the shooting, and knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before opening fire.
Newly appointed police commissioner Jessica Tisch said the shooter appeared to be lying in wait for several minutes before approaching Thompson.
Surveillance grabs from a nearby Starbucks show the shooter inside the establishment prior to the incident.
Sources also told CNN that the man bought two powers bars and a bottle of water from the coffee chain.
Authorities found a phone and a water bottle near the scene that they believe is the one he bought from Starbucks, and could offer them DNA.
Officials have yet to establish a motive in the killing but sources told ABC 7 they are investigating a possible grudge against the insurance company.
Tisch added: Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target, and said that it did not appear to be a random act of violence.
He was also caught on surveillance footage loitering outside and appeared to be on the phone ten minutes before he opened fire, according to The New York Times.
The masked killer draws out a large gun fitted with a silencer and shots him in the back, sending the CEO stumbling down the street
Thompson had been slated to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel on Wednesday morning
Thompson had been slated to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel on Wednesday morning, in which he would announce United Healthcares hugely profitable 2025 financial outlook - including expected revenues of more than $450 billion.
His schedule was widely known, and witnesses have said the suspected gunman even knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before opening fire.
Still, the investor conference reportedly began without interruption at 8am on the second floor of the Hilton until news of the shooting began to circulate.
Without knowing it was Thompson who was hit, one attendee told the group that someone got shot outside.
CEO of parent company United Healthgroup Andrew Witty is said to have halted the meeting at the hotel just after 8am upon hearing of the tragedy.
He told attendees: We’re dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members. As a result, I’m afraid, we’re going to have to bring to a close the event.
A Hilton worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com in the aftermath that staff have been left shaken by the public assassination on their doorstep.
They said: For this to happen in this area, it’s weird. For this guy to do it around here with all these cameras and everything, there’s got to be something behind it.
I mean obviously there was, you have to be pretty crazy to do something like that.
United is the biggest health insurer by market share in America. They have been the subject of protests by activists for allegedly systematically denying care for patients.
One such protest earlier this year led to the arrests of 11 people outside the United Healthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
The company made headlines in February after it was subjected to a cyber-attack which cost $872 million.
Thompsons wife, Paulette Pauley Thompson, 51, has said her husband had been receiving some threats before his trip to New York.
Members of the New York police crime scene unit photograph bullets lying on the sidewalk as they investigate the scene outside the Hilton Hotel
Surveillance grabs from a nearby Starbucks show the shooter inside the establishment prior to the incident.
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, she told NBC News.
Thompson was also being investigated by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations and accused of insider trading.
The department launched a probe into whether the private company was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.
He is survived by his wife and their two children who live in the familys $1.5 million home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
We are shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian, she told ABC 7 following her husbands untimely death.
Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives, she said.
Most importantly, Brian was an incredibly loving father to our two sons and will be greatly missed.
We appreciate your well wishes and request complete privacy as our family moves through this difficult time.
Her sister Elena Reveiz told the New York Times that she was stunned by the news of her brothers slaying.
He was a good person and I am so sad, she said, describing Thompson as a good father to his two children.
