But he left something behind: a backpack that was discovered in Central Park.
Investigators are looking into whether the shooter may have been a disgruntled employee or customer of the insurer, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney told reporters.
The FBI announced on Friday evening that it was offering a US$50,000 (A$78,200) reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday’s shooting shows him riding a bicycle in Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus terminal that offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, according to Kenney .
(UnitedHealth Group)
Police have video of the man entering the bus station, but no video of him exiting, leading them to believe he left town, Kenney said.
Investigators on Friday found a backpack in the park that was worn by the gunman at the time of the shooting, police said, after a massive sweep to find it in a sprawling area of lakes and ponds, meadows, playgrounds and woods.
Police did not immediately reveal what, if anything, it contained, but said it would be analyzed for clues.
The shooter took care to conceal his identity with a mask for most of his time in the city, including during the attack and while eating, but still left a trail of evidence in view of the nation’s largest city and its network of security cameras.
The gunman arrived in New York on Nov. 24 and shot Thompson dead 10 days later outside his company’s annual investor conference at a hotel just blocks from Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.
The gunman got off a bus leaving from Atlanta and made several stops along the way, Kenney said. Police have not determined where he boarded the bus.
Investigators have a list of the passengers, but none of them were required to provide identification when they boarded, Kenney said.
Investigators believe the suspect used a fake ID and paid in cash, Kenny said, when he checked into the hostel, which has a cafeteria along with shared and private rooms and is a few blocks from Columbia University.
Investigators tested a discarded water bottle and a protein bar wrapper for his DNA. They were also trying to get additional information from a cell phone found on the shooter’s escape route.
Photos of the suspected gunman, taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, appear to be from the moment he took off his mask, Kenney said.
The images show a smiling man in the lobby of the HI New York City Hostel. They are among a collection of photos and videos released after the shooting — including footage of the attack as well as images of the suspected gunman at Starbucks beforehand.
“From all the indications we have from witnesses, from Starbucks, from the hostel, he had his mask on the entire time, except for one instance where we filmed him with his mask off,” Kenny said.
His hostel roommates also said he did not speak to them. A search of the suspected shooter’s hotel room turned up nothing of investigative value.
Asked how close he thought police were to making an arrest, Kenny said: “It’s not ‘Blue Bloods.’ We’re not going to solve this in 60 minutes. Ultimately, we will have to present all of these facts to a judge and jury. , so we’re taking our time, getting it right and making sure we get justice for this victim and closure for his family.”
Security video of the shooting shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, firing several shots with a silencer-equipped handgun, barely stopping to clear a traffic jam as the executive falls to the pavement.
Police are looking into the possibility that the weapon was a veterinary gun, which is a weapon commonly used on farms and ranches if the animal needs to be euthanized quietly, Kenney said — though he stressed that has not been confirmed.
The words “delay,” “refuse” and “discard” were scrawled on the ammunition, one word on each of the three bullets, Kenney said. A law enforcement official previously told The Associated Press that the words were “deny,” “protect” and “take down.” The messages echo the “delay, deny, defend” phrase commonly used by lawyers and critics of insurers who delay payments, deny claims and defend their actions.
Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in suburban Minneapolis, had been with Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004. and was CEO for over three years.
The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., held its annual meeting in New York for investors. The company abruptly ended the conference after Thompson’s death.
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UnitedHealth Group said it is focused on supporting Thompson’s family, ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators. “While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the massive outpouring,” the company said.
UnitedHealthcare provides coverage to more than 49 million Americans. It manages employer health insurance coverage and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.
In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how denial rates for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients have increased in recent years.
The shooting has shaken the health insurance industry in particular, prompting companies to reevaluate their security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites. Another Minnesota-based health care company said Friday it was temporarily closing its offices out of an abundance of caution, telling employees to work from home.
