A hostel clerk had a brief moment of flirtation with suspected shooter UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who gave authorities bombastic evidence by getting a closer look at the attacker.
The employee told me CNN that she asked the gunman to lower his mask while flirting with him as he checked into the HI New York City Hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
After complying, surveillance cameras at the hostel managed to get a clearer image of the smiling suspect that the NYPD later dispersed as part of their ongoing manhunt.
According to police sources who spoke to CNN, the suspect had arrived in the city from Atlanta aboard a Greyhound bus on November 24, 10 days before Wednesday’s shooting.
Sources said he then appeared to move around the city after checking into the hostel, leaving on November 29 and checking back in on November 30.
He had checked into the hostel with a fake New Jersey driver’s license and paid for his stay in cash.
A new image obtained by CNN shows the killer walking along West 55th Street as he made his way to the Hilton Hotel on the morning of the shooting.
Surveillance cameras at the hostel managed to get a clearer picture of the smiling suspect that the NYPD later dispersed as part of their ongoing manhunt
A new image obtained by CNN shows the killer walking along West 55th Street as he made his way to the Hilton Hotel on the morning of the shooting
He had checked into the hostel with a fake New Jersey driver’s license, seen here, and paid for his stay in cash
Officers are still searching for the unknown assailant who shot Thompson, seen here, outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan Wednesday morning.
Officers showed up at the hostel on Thursday as part of their ongoing search and also raided a Long Island Rail Road train on Wednesday.
It is now also believed that the weapon used in the shooting was a modern version of a rare World War II weapon.
Sources told The New York Post that investigators are focusing their efforts on a gun shop in Connecticut that they believe sold the B&T VP9 pistol.
Detectives investigating the murder also found shell casings with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” engraved on them.
On Wednesday, images emerged of him with his face covered in a Starbucks near the hotel before the shooting.
In a nearby trash bin, officers found a water bottle and a package of protein bars that they said the gunman had purchased from the coffee chain minutes before the shooting.
The gunman had escaped on foot before ending up on an electric bicycle and disappearing into Central Park.
Surveillance footage of the shooting shows Thompson walking alone outside the downtown hotel entrance when the gunman steps into view and opens fire.
The terrifying video shows the masked killer pull out a large gun and shoot Thompson in the back, leaving the CEO to stagger down the street as he continues shooting.
Newly appointed Police Chief Jessica Tisch said Wednesday that the gunman “appeared to be lurking for several minutes” before closing in on Thompson.
Tisch added, “Many people passed by the suspect, but he appeared to be waiting for his intended target,” saying it did not “appear to be a random act of violence.”
Officers showed up at the hostel on Thursday as part of their ongoing search and also raided a Long Island Rail Road train on Wednesday
Detectives investigating the murder also found shell casings with the words ‘deny’, ‘defend’ and ‘depose’ engraved on them
Police sources close to the investigation report this CNN that based on his reactions they believe the shooter was an experienced marksman.
Firearms experts who reviewed the footage told the station that he responded as if someone with law enforcement or military training would be trained to respond to such an issue.
Thompson’s widow Paulette said her husband, from whom she is divorced, had received threats leading up to the shooting.
He would announce the company’s hugely profitable financial outlook for 2025, including projected revenues of more than $450 billion.
UnitedHealthCare had hired security for their top executives, with Thompson having his own security staff for the event, who were absent when he was shot.
Detectives investigating the murder also found shell casings with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” engraved on them.
As news of his killing spread Wednesday morning, many major healthcare providers beefed up personal protections for their top officials, according to CNN.
His plan was well known, and witnesses said the suspected shooter even knew which door Thompson would exit through before opening fire.
Without knowing it was Thompson who was hit, one participant told the group that “someone got shot outside.”
CEO of parent company United Healthgroup Andrew Witty is said to have stopped the meeting at the hotel just after 8am when he heard of the tragedy.
Thompson’s family left a note on the door of their Minnesota mansion Thursday, describing the director as an “incredibly loving, generous, talented man.”