NY - UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot in Midtown. #3

[NottaYutz]

This seems to confirm the NYT's reporting that the suspect is believed to have exited the park around 60th Street. If the suspect ditched the bag in the park right near the Center Drive entrance, LE should be able to find it as it is a pretty small area to search. If they don't find the backpack, my guess would be that either an unwitting passerby who has not followed the news about the shooting picked it up or the backpack was intentionally handed off to a third-party.

So, nothing on camera after he exited at 60th Street? Wonder if he hailed a cab or someone was waiting for him. Is there a 60th Street subway entrance?

 

[Chimera]

I don't buy it. Antifa aren't communists, and united health, as scummy as health insurance companies are, are not fascists.

To me this isn't a political hit. It's motivated by revenge or money.

Agreed about this possibly being about revenge or money.
Both seem logical, and also -- might not both be a motive ?
Wondering if the perp was paid !

Brian's murder was certainly not just a random hit (although that has happened in the past) -- as I doubt very much that the shooter just happened to know when his victim would be walking that way ?
Omo.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Police Find Backpack in Central Park, a Possible Link to Gunman Who Killed C.E.O.

Three days after an insurance executive was fatally shot on a Manhattan sidewalk, the authorities provided a detailed timeline of the suspect’s movements. It was not yet known what was in the backpack.

www.nytimes.com

<snipped & BBM>
A dozen officers were searching for the gunman’s backpack near the intersection of 65th Street and Center Drive in Central Park on Friday afternoon. Tourists and park visitors passed by as officers searched trash cans, grates, storm drains and leaf piles near the beach volleyball courts and visitor centers. The officer worked with park employees to inspect locked storage containers.

[...]

Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the New York Police Department, said in an interview with CNN that investigators have “reason to believe” that the person they seek in the killing of Brian Thompson has left New York City. Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives, said the police have video of him entering a bus terminal the day of the attack. “We don’t have any video of him exiting, so we believe he may have gotten on a bus,” he told CNN.

 

[NottaYutz]

This seems to confirm the NYT's reporting that the suspect is believed to have exited the park around 60th Street. If the suspect ditched the bag in the park right near the Center Drive entrance, LE should be able to find it as it is a pretty small area to search. If they don't find the backpack, my guess would be that either an unwitting passerby who has not followed the news about the shooting picked it up or the backpack was intentionally handed off to a third-party.

So, nothing on camera after he exited at 60th Street? (At least, not shared with public.)Wonder if he hailed a cab or someone was waiting for him. Is there a 60th Street subway entrance?

 

[acutename]

If he was heading to Atlanta to take a plane from there to some other country, he would have to ditch the gun first. I think that is why he went to Central Park - to dismantle the weapon and drop it to the bottom of a lake for instance, outside of camera view. He didn’t change clothes but didn’t have his big backpack when he exited the park, so his plan was to discard incriminating evidence before leaving the city.k

If he keeps the gun, he cannot fly. IMO. Has to dump it, hand it off? hide it....It is a liability and has his prints on it I imagine.

 

[MassGuy]

Another visual comparison of the gray backpack shots .... notice how the straps attach to the bag as well as the shape of the bag.

View attachment 549717View attachment 549719
First photo from this article, second photo from this video

Ok I think I’ve figured it out. That article says the subway video was “reviewed by police.”

I think someone from the media got wind of this, asked to see it, and recorded it with their phone.

So police probably checked the image but didn’t say it was the guy. It’s not them who released it.

Possibly just a random person.

 

[soap mama]

Manhunt intensifies after health executive shot dead outside New York hotel

Attacker lay in wait for victim before shooting him outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel before escaping on an e-bike

www.standard.co.uk

View attachment 549712

NYPD received hundreds of tips about the backpack worn by the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare’s Brian Thompson. The brand’s CEO said he’d do ‘whatever is possible' to help | Fortune

Peak Design CEO Peter Dering said the gunman likely purchased the bag identified in photos between 2016 and 2019.

fortune.com

''The CEO identified the bag as a version of Peak Design’s Everyday Backpack, which the company stopped producing in 2019. The shooter likely bought the bag between 2016 and 2019 or, less likely, bought the bag used from Peak Design’s website, according to Dering.
Peak Design, which Dering launched on Kickstarter in 2011, was originally a camera accessory company. It has since expanded its lines into backpacks and duffels, many of which are still organized into padded sections to accommodate camera equipment.''

He could have bought it off a third party reseller site, like Mercari or eBay.

 

[ChrisM]

What is particularly intriguing about this case is that the motives range from garden variety/divorce/hit for money to foreign influence campaign by Russia to destabilize democracy via uprising against the elites. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if either of these is the motive. I do think he had and accomplice and honestly regarding his looks, he gives off Andrew Cunanan vibes, though if this were a psychosexual murder I WOULD be surprised.

I have thought about the possibility of 2 similar looking people being involved. It would explain some things but it seems like something out of a movie so I put that idea on the back burner. Nice to see that I am not alone in thinking about 2 people.

agreed, the idea seems like something out of a movie, but an interesting idea, too - i would certainly watch it! anyway, if the basis for this is related to an insurance issue avoidable death, that might understandably result in multiple family members being motivated to engage in a plan like this.

 

[wibbleflea]

So, nothing on camera after he exited at 60th Street? (At least, not shared with public.)Wonder if he hailed a cab or someone was waiting for him. Is there a 60th Street subway entrance?

"he gets in a cab that takes him to a Port Authority bus center near 178th Street and Broadway." That's NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-news-12-6-24#cm4d5hp0c000u3b6mb9g04tyt

 

[Herat]

"he gets in a cab that takes him to a Port Authority bus center near 178th Street and Broadway." That's NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-news-12-6-24#cm4d5hp0c000u3b6mb9g04tyt

So surely they have found and interviewed that cabbie.

 

[MassGuy]

John Miller on CNN:

Not surprised they don't have a name yet. Been in lots of cases like this where luck doesn't come through, and it can take an extended period of time (serial killers/bomber cases).

X factor: Today NYPD delivered evidence to Medical Examiner (bottle swabs, phone swab). They'll then extract that DNA and enter it into CODIS. It'll be a step forward.

If not, keep pushing that picture out, keep checking that video.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Updated Timeline (as of 4:12pm EST, Dec. 6)
Sunday, November 24
- Around 9pm: Suspect arrives at Port Authority Bus Terminal on a Greyhound bus originating in Atlanta around 9pm, although police have yet to determine where exactly he boarded the bus. He then checks in to the HI NYC Hostel at Amsterdam Avenue and 104th Street.

Friday, November 29
- Suspect checks out of the HI NYC Hostel.

Saturday, November 30
- Suspect takes an Uber back to the HI NYC Hostel and rebooks a room using a fake NJ ID.

Monday, December 2
- Brian Thompson arrives in NYC and stays at The Luxury Collection Midtown Hotel on 54th Street.

Wednesday, December 4
- AM: Gunman is seen on surveillance video on the Upper West Side carrying what appears to be a battery for an electric bike

- AM: Suspect checks out of the HI NYC Hostel.

- Around 5am: Suspect is seen on CCTV near the Frederick Douglass Houses, a housing project situated between 100th and 104th streets between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues.

- AM: Suspect is captured on CCTV entering Central Park near the Frederick Douglass Houses.

- 6:15am: Gunman is captured on surveillance camera exiting the 57th Street F train stop

- 6:17am: Gunman purchases a water bottle and two power bars at the Starbucks at 56th Street and 6th Avenue

- 6:19am: Suspect seen on CCTV walking near a deli on 55th Street and is seen stopping by a pile on trash on the sidewalk.

- Around 6:30am: Suspect seen on the phone while walking eastbound on 54th Street past a parking lot (Note: location of video was not provided by CNN, I geolocated it to a parking lot at 137 W. 54th St)

- 6:39am: Gunman arrives on foot outside one of the side entrances on 54th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues

- 6:44am: Thompson is shot on 54th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, outside one of the side entrances to the Hilton

- 6:46am: Police respond to a 911 call reporting that someone had been shot in front of the Hilton located on 6th Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets.

- 6:48am: Officers arrive on scene outside Hilton

- 6:48am: Gunman is seen riding a bike on Center Drive in Central Park

- Exact time unknown: Suspect is seen exiting Central Park at 77th Street.

- Before 7am: Suspect is captured on CCTV riding westbound on 85th Street near Central Park West. He is no longer wearing the backpack.

- Exact time unknown: Suspect is seen walking near 86th Street and Columbus Avenue hailing a cab

- Exact time unknown: Suspect exits the cab at the GW Bridge Bus Station at 178th Street and Broadway. Detectives have surveillance footage of the suspect entering the bus station but not exiting, and believe he boarded a bus and left the city.

 

[acutename]

It was a nice backpack, anyone could have taken it.

maybe LE is looking on resale sites even now
imagine you find a backpack with a murder weapon in it....

 

[whitelilac]

Is the FBI involved? He's presumably out of the state now.

 

[ElizaKate]

"he gets in a cab that takes him to a Port Authority bus center near 178th Street and Broadway." That's NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-news-12-6-24#cm4d5hp0c000u3b6mb9g04tyt

He was also seen on foot at 86th Street and Columbus Avenue before he took the cab. Same link.

"He said the suspected gunman rode on a bike from the shooting scene to Central Park. The person then exited the park around 77th Street, still with the bike, Kenny said. Footage later shows him walking at 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, according to Kenny, before he gets in a cab that takes him to a Port Authority bus center near 178th Street and Broadway."

<ETA Note some outlets reporting he exited around 60th>

 

[RobSA]

So, nothing on camera after he exited at 60th Street? (At least, not shared with public.)Wonder if he hailed a cab or someone was waiting for him. Is there a 60th Street subway entrance?

I believe he briefly went into Central Park. He got out at 60th St. He briefly rides north on Central Park West, but decides to go back into Central Park where he rides to 77th St where he comes back out. He rides north and takes left on W. 85th St where he is seen on video riding past the garbage truck. He takes the cab at 86th St. He ditched the bike somewhere around there. He could easily count on somebody taking the bike if he left it, but doesn't really matter.

 

[DancingMuse]

agreed, the idea seems like something out of a movie, but an interesting idea, too - i would certainly watch it! anyway, if the basis for this is related to an insurance issue avoidable death, that might understandably result in multiple family members being motivated to engage in a plan like this.

agreed, the idea seems like something out of a movie, but an interesting idea, too - i would certainly watch it! anyway, if the basis for this is related to an insurance issue avoidable death, that might understandably result in multiple family members being motivated to engage in a plan like this.

Yes. I was thinking along those lines.

Getting on the bus at 178th street later in the day threw me though.
After committing homicide, he (and only he) went home. One guy.

He might just be a young man who lives in NJ.

One morning, he got on the bus at Newark to travel to PortAuthority, 42 str, NYC.
(The bus had come up from Atlanta.)

Ten days later, he took a commuter bus, back to NJ. And was home by dinner that evening.

Just sayin'.

(moo. edited to add timing issues.)

 

[MesquiteO21]

Police believe person of interest in CEO shooting has left New York City​

From CNN's Elise Hammond
Investigators have a “reason to believe” the person of interest in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO has left New York City, according to police commissioner Jessica Tisch.

She told CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz that police released photos of the person not wearing a mask on Thursday because they want a “wider audience to see the picture outside of New York City.”

This is the first interview with top police officials since the shooting happened.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said officers are conducting a “very very extensive video canvas.” They are reviewing footage from around the Hilton hotel, where the shooting occurred, to uptown Manhattan.

He said the suspected gunman rode on a bike from the shooting scene to Central Park. The person then exited the park around 77th Street, still with the bike, Kenny said. Footage later shows him walking at 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, according to Kenny, before he gets in a cab that takes him to a Port Authority bus center near 178th Street and Broadway.

“Those buses are interstate buses. That’s why we believe he may have left New York City,” he said, adding that police are working to figure out which bus the person may have gotten on.

This post has been updated with additional details from Kenny.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-news-12-6-24/index.html

getting into a cab is a good thing, right? because they can probably see the cab number from the video and then talk to the cab driver?
jmo

 

[Herat]

Ok I think I’ve figured it out. That article says the subway video was “reviewed by police.”

I think someone from the media got wind of this, asked to see it, and recorded it with their phone.

So police probably checked the image but didn’t say it was the guy. It’s not them who released it.

Possibly just a random person.

I can't be sure because of the angle and the distortion of the image through the glass doors and metal handles of the cigar store.

I do clearly see the white band on the midsole of black shoes there.

 

[bestill]

He was out of the city before the NYPD presser. I do wonder if he had his ticket already purchased and ready to go or did he jump on the first bus leaving NYC that morning? Shouldn't be difficult to research the routes and passengers. This is good news to know. JMO