A senior New York City law enforcement official informed on the investigation confirmed to NBC News Thursday that round shells discovered at the scene where a masked shooter killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO in front of a bustling hotel in New York City had the words “deny, defend, and depose” scribbled on them.
According to police, a deliberate, preplanned targeted attack outside the New York Hilton Midtown in the center of Manhattan killed 50-year-old Brian Thompson.
The gunman is still at large, and police say they don’t yet know his motivation.
“Shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian,” Thompson’s family wrote in a statement.
In a statement received by NBC station KARE of Minneapolis, the family stated, “Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives.”
They asked for “complete privacy.”
Three senior law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told NBC News that investigators think the shooter may have taken a bus from New York City to Atlanta last month.
Authorities are trying to determine whether the tickets bought for a Greyhound trip on November 24 contain a name that might be used to identify the shooter. According to Greyhound, it is assisting investigators with their work.
According to two law enforcement officials informed on the inquiry, police are also investigating if the shooter rented a room at a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side using cash and a forged ID.
The remarks scrawled on the bullet casings were initially reported by ABC News.
Despite knowing threats against him, Thompson did not have a personal security detail with him.
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Paulette Thompson, Thompson’s wife, told NBC News on Wednesday that there had been some threats. Basically, a lack of coverage, I guess? Details are unknown to me. All I know is that he claimed that some individuals had been threatening him.
On security footage, Thompson was seen strolling down the street while wearing a blue suit. It was evident that the shooter had come up behind him and started shooting. A witness fled to safety as Thompson staggered forward. The video showed Thompson falling to the ground as the gunman kept shooting.
At Mount Sinai West, Thompson was declared deceased.
Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny stated on Wednesday that although the motive behind this murder is still unknown, it does seem the victim was singled out based on the evidence we now have. We do not yet know why, though.
According to a senior New York City law enforcement official informed on the inquiry, the gunman purchased two protein bars and a water bottle from a nearby Starbucks prior to the shooting and threw the goods away.
According to the official, authorities gathered the goods as evidence in the hopes that it would help with the investigation after recovering a video that showed the man’s disposal location.
Rob D. Amico, a former FBI supervisor, stated on Wednesday that Thompson’s murder has all the elements of a personal grudge connected to the victim’s business.
“With a few quick Google searches, anyone could have found the location of the high-ranking business figure,” D Amico said. An investor conference was scheduled on Wednesday, according to UnitedHealthcare’s website, but the location was not specified.
“There is so much on the internet now and people put so much out there that even a layman can find it,” said D Amico, who is currently a security consultant.
According to the insurance behemoth’s two most recent proxy statements, neither current nor previous executives of UnitedHealth Group get regular company-funded personal protection services. If a company’s annual security expenditures for directors or corporate officers surpass $10,000, they must be reported.
In its most recent proxy papers, UnitedHealthcare’s competitors Humana and Cigna also claimed to offer CEOs personal security. However, neither the executives who were granted this protection nor the amount spent were revealed in SEC records.
According to regulatory filings, CVS Health, another significant player in the health insurance market, mandates that its CEO use corporate planes and a corporate driver as part of a stated executive protection program.
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