The masked assassin who killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson A new video shows he was caught on camera casually talking on the phone just minutes before pulling the trigger.
Surveillance footage shows a man wearing the same dark outfit – hat, ski mask and gray backpack – holding a phone to his ear as he strolled east on 54th Street toward the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday – just 15 minutes before the fatal shooting.
The NYPD said the killer showed up about five minutes before the attack and waited for his target. When the moment came, he used a weapon with a silencer fire the shots that killed Thompson.
A call shortly before a murder was carried out only strengthens the NYPD’s theory – this was not a random attack, but possibly a cold, calculated, targeted attack.
So far, the suspect’s face is not clearly visible in any of the surveillance images, but the police are not giving up. They put up $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect – and a Internet detective has already come forward and provided investigators with a possible escape route using Citi Bike tracking data, a lead they are actively pursuing.
Police are also working with UnitedHealthcare to uncover a possible motive by looking into recent threats and ill will involving disgruntled ex-employees of the health insurance giant.
Thompson was taken to hospital after the attack and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
