He killed a high-profile CEO on a sidewalk in America’s largest city, where thousands of surveillance cameras monitor millions of people every day.
But the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a busy hotel keeps evading capture. Now, authorities say he might have slipped out of New York – meaning the elusive gunman could be anywhere.
Aren’t there cameras everywhere in New York City?
It could take weeks to find and scrub through a massive array of video footage from all the places where the gunman may have traveled.
Police believe the suspect arrived in New York City 10 days before the killing – on November 24, a law enforcement official told CNN. Throughout his stay, the suspect appeared on camera numerous times – but always kept his hood over his head and wore a mask in public places.
“It will take them weeks. … They will build out every step of his trip that’s on video,” Miller said. “They will create a movie of his every move.”
While the gunman meticulously planned many parts of his crime and getaway, he might be surprised by “how far the NYPD is going to go in collecting video,” said former NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey.
“And they’re not just going to take it from the crime scene to his escape route,” Corey said. “They’re actually going to rewind now, and they’re going to try to account for all 10 days that he spent in New York City. And I don’t think that he anticipates that.”
Why couldn’t they find him in Central Park on the day of the killing?
Minutes after Thompson was gunned down Wednesday, surveillance video captured the suspect riding an electric bike into colossal Central Park at 6:48 a.m.
Spanning 843 acres, Central Park is larger than the country of Monaco. “It’s a big park, and it’s complicated terrain,” Miller said.
The suspect apparently left the park within minutes. After reviewing security footage, police believe he may have left the park through the West 77th Street exit – but without the “distinctive gray backpack” seen on the suspect during the shooting.
At 7 a.m., a man resembling the suspect was spotted riding a bicycle on West 85th Street, private surveillance footage shows. Law enforcement told CNN they have reviewed the video and believe it likely shows the gunman.
We now have a photo showing the suspect’s unmasked face. How has no one recognized him and come forward to police?
Some have portrayed the killer as a man enacting vigilante justice against a health care system they say values profits over patients’ lives, which could hinder some people’s motivation to report possible sightings of him.
The evidence suggests the gunman viewed himself as a “Batman-type figure that was seeking justice on behalf of people that he thinks he’s representing,” said Bryanna Fox, a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida.
The words “delay” and “depose” were written on a live round and a shell casing linked to the shooter, law enforcement sources told CNN. Police are investigating whether those words suggest a motive. The words are similar to a popular phrase about the insurance industry: “delay, deny, defend.”
Tens of thousands of social media users mocked the death of the health insurance CEO and showed little sympathy after the killing. A post by UnitedHealthcare’s parent company mourning Thompson’s death received more than 82,000 reactions as of Friday; 76,000 of them were laughing emojis.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/07/us/suspect-search-unitedhealthcare-ceo/index.html
