NEW YORK - A police manhunt was underway on Thursday in New York for the suspect who killed UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson in a targeted attack outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Wednesday morning before fleeing into Central Park.

Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance unit, was gunned down from behind in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant lying in wait. It came just before the company's annual investor conference at the Hilton on Sixth Avenue. 

The words "deny," "defend" and "depose" were carved into shell casings found at the scene, police sources told ABC and the New York Post. A New York City Police Department spokesperson would not comment on the report.

The words evoke the title of a book critical of the insurance industry published in 2010 titled Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The author, Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers University Law School, wrote, "Sorry, no comment" in an email when contacted by Reuters.

Authorities released a new photo with a clear view of the suspect's face on Thursday, a day after publishing photos that showed his face partially obscured by a ski mask, and have asked the public's help in locating him. Police have also searched a hostel on Manhattan's Upper West Side where the suspect is believed to have been staying, CNN reported.

Police have not publicly identified a motive, but Thompson appears to have been deliberately targeted, according to investigators.

Security video showed the shooter behind Thompson, 50, raising his handgun and firing at his back. Police said the gunman arrived outside the hotel several minutes before Thompson and waited for him to walk past before firing, ignoring other passers-by. 

The suspect, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and the ski mask and wearing a gray backpack, fled on foot before mounting an electric bike and riding into Central Park, police said.

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Police published a number of images of the suspect taken from video cameras in the area, including one with the gun raised and pointed toward Thompson and another of the suspect fleeing on the bike.

The city has one of the most advanced surveillance systems of any major US city, largely built after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, said Felipe Rodriguez, a former NYPD detective sergeant who is now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

There are thousands of cameras in New York and all feeds can be monitored in real time as well as reviewed for previous footage, aided by facial recognition software.

"It's called the real-time crime centre: actionable intelligence can be relayed to the responding officers in the field," Rodriguez said.

'EXTRAORDINARY PERSON'

UnitedHealth is the largest US health insurer, providing benefits to tens of millions of Americans, who pay more for healthcare than people in any other country. Thompson, a father of two, joined UnitedHealth in 2004 and became the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, in April 2021.

The company has been grappling with the fallout from a massive data hack of its Change Healthcare unit that provides technology for US healthcare providers, disrupting medical care for patients and reimbursement to doctors for months.

"Our hearts go out to Brian's family and all who were close to him," the company said in a statement.

In a video sent to employees on Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty announced Thompson's death, calling him a "truly extraordinary person." At its headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota, the company lowered flags on campus to half-staff, a spokesperson told Reuters.

Thompson's wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he had been receiving threats related to his job but said she did not know the details.

"Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives," she said later in a statement. "Brian was an incredibly loving father to our two sons and will be greatly missed."

Police in Maple Grove, Minnesota, where Thompson lived, said there were no reports of threats to Thompson, but one reported incident of "suspicious activity" at his home in June 2018.

Paulette Thompson told police she was getting ready for bed when she reported seeing the deadbolt turning on their front door. Police found no sign of an attempted break-in and no one on the property.

Source: Reuters