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Insurance CEO Killer Arrived in New York by Bus 10 Days Before Fatal Shooting
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Investigators tracking the movements of the man believed to have gunned down an insurance CEO on the streets of New York this week say he appears to have arrived in the city by bus on November 24.

Sources say a surveillance camera captured the man arriving at 9 p.m. that night at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The bus originated in Atlanta, they said, but it’s not clear where he boarded the bus as it had stops in multiple cities between Atlanta and New York, WABC reports.

Investigators say they’re trying to determine if shooter left New York by bus after killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday as he headed to an investors’ conference at the Hilton.

Interestingly, the suspect arrived in New York two days before UnitedHealth Group announced the annual investors’ conference, CNBC reported.

The shooting was captured on surveillance video that showed the masked gunman lying in wait for Thompson’s arrival, then approaching him from behind, and opening fire. The shooter fled into a nearby alley, where he hopped on a bike and rode into Central Park. Another video captured him riding out of the park a short time later.

Investigators have collected video and images of the as yet unidentified suspect from various locations in the city, including at the hostel where he checked in on November 30 — paying cash and using a New Jersey ID that did not belong to him — a McDonald’s, Starbucks, cabs, and the subway. He paid cash in each location and wore a mask everywhere — except the hostel, where investigators obtained clear images of his face.

Investigators said he was flirting with the desk clerk at the hostel, who then encouraged him to lower the mask so she could see his smile.

He had two roommates while at the hostel, according to investigators, who haven’t said if they have located those men or what they might have said.

Investigators initially said they found the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on the shell casings and live rounds at the scene of the fatal shooting. Those words apparently refer to the “three Ds” of health care insurance companies — deny the claim, defend the lawsuit, and depose the patient.

But according to WCBS, they found only the words “delay” and “defend” written in Sharpie on the casings.

UnitedHealthCare is the largest medical insurance company in the world, with more than double the market share of the number two company, according to Forbes. The company also has a record of denying the most claims of any medical insurance company, coming in at just under 1/3.

Investigators have also identified the type of gun they believe was used in the shooting. They think it is a B&T Station Six, which does not have a silencer, as initially reported, but instead has a long barrel that allows it to fire more quietly, WABC reported. It is a modern version of the British World War II era Welrod pistol.

While police initially said the gun appeared to jam but that the shooter quickly cleared it, that may not be the case — the B&T Station Six requires that the ammunition be manually cycled from the magazine.

Police say they are looking into all recent purchases of the weapon. The gun used in the shooting has not been found.

WCBS also said that investigators were searching Central Park for the killer’s backpack as he does not appear to be wearing it in a video of his ride out of the park.

Brian Thompson/UnitedHealthcare Group

According to WPIX, investigators are checking over a water bottle and candy wrappers found at the shooting scene — and believed to have been bought at Starbucks by the suspect minutes before the shooting — and a cell phone found in the alley where he fled after the shooting. The phone was a burner. The suspect was seen talking on a cell phone prior to the shooting.

Thompson’s wife said that he had received threats in the past, but the police chief in Maple Grove, the Minneapolis suburb where the couple lives in separate houses, said his department had received no reports about such threats — until Wednesday night when a fake bomb threat was reported. Thompson was walking alone with no security at the time of the shooting.

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