(This December 7 story has been corrected to clarify that it is unknown whether the suspect has been identified in the headline, paragraphs 1 and 6)
(Reuters) – Authorities are closing in on the man suspected of killing UnitedHealth (NYSE:) CEO Brian Thompson. New York Mayor Eric Adams was quoted by the New York Post on Saturday.
“The net is tightening,” Adams told reporters at a Police Athletic League holiday party in Harlem, according to the Post. He declined to name the suspect.
Thompson, 50, who became CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit in April 2021, was shot in the back around 6:45 a.m. ET (1145 GMT) on Wednesday in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant who lay in wait .
The murder occurred just before the company’s annual investor conference at the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue.
The shooting sparked a massive manhunt for the gunman, who fled on foot wearing a hooded jacket, balaclava and gray backpack before mounting an electric bicycle and riding into Central Park, police said.
Adams declined to say whether investigators had the suspect’s name, according to the NY Post.
“We don’t want to release that now,” the mayor said. “If you do that, you are essentially giving a tip to the person we are looking for and we absolutely do not want to give that person the upper hand. Let him continue to believe that he can hide behind the mask.”
“We revealed his face,” he continued, referring to security camera photos and videos released after the killing. “We are going to reveal who he is and we are going to bring him to justice.”
According to media reports, a backpack similar to the suspect’s was found near a playground in Central Park. MSNBC said Saturday that police who examined the bag and its contents found a jacket and Monopoly money, but no firearm.
Police divers were searching for the weapon used in the killing in a Central Park pond on Saturday, CNN reported, citing police sources. Reuters has not independently verified the account.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN on Friday that police have collected “an enormous amount of evidence,” including fingerprints, DNA evidence and surveillance footage of the suspect’s movements around the city.
New York police said Friday they believe the suspect has left New York City after video emerged of him getting into a taxi that took him to a bus station.
“We have video of him entering the Port Authority bus terminal. We don’t have video of him exiting, so we believe he got on a bus,” said New York Police Department Chief Joseph Kenny , to CNN. “Those buses are interstate buses. That’s why we think he left New York City.”
The New York Police Department has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman, and the FBI has added $50,000 to that reward.
The circumstances of the attack suggested it was premeditated and planned, police said, with video showing the gunman ignoring other pedestrians as he appeared to wait for Thompson. The shooter’s motive is not yet known.
Surveillance video showed the gunman behind Thompson, raising his gun and shooting at his back. Thompson, a married father of two, suffered gunshot wounds to his back and leg and was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after the attack.
UnitedHealth is the largest U.S. health insurer, providing benefits to tens of millions of Americans, who pay more for health care than people in any other country.
