Although authorities have witnesses, ample street footage and even DNA evidence, the nationwide manhunt for the gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is fraught with challenges for law enforcement as it enters its fourth day.
Since the attack at 6:46 a.m. on Wednesday, details have become clearer. The attacker arrived in New York City on a bus from Atlanta on November 24, stayed at an AYH Hostel on the Upper West Side and likely fled the city through the Port Authority bus terminal.
The FBI has joined local law enforcement in the hunt, and a relatively clear photo of the suspect has been distributed so the public can do the same. Here are the breadcrumbs of evidence that investigators are following.
WHO WAS THE CEO OF UNITEDHEALTHCARE WHO SHOOT THE SUSPECT ON THE PHONE MOMENTS BEFORE THE SHOOTING?
A map shows the known locations of the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Fox News)
1. A backpack thrown away in Central Park
NYPD investigators found a backpack on Central Park West on Friday that they believe belonged to the suspect who killed Thompson. A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that it will be taken to a laboratory in Queens for forensic testing.
Retired FBI agent Scott Duffey explained that the backpack will undergo “trail evidence processing.”
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A Peak Designs backpack found by the NYPD in a pile of leaves in Central Park on Friday, December 6, 20204. The bag appears to match the description of the bag carried by the gunman who killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning. murdered. (Obtained by New York Post)
“(It’s) a process for hair, fiber (and) DNA,” Duffey said Saturday. “If he puts his hand to the belt and pulls the buckle tight, as most of us do, that’s where DNA is likely to be found. And zippers.’
2. A water bottle fell on the spot
After ambushing Thompson outside the Hilton Midtown at 57th Street and 6th Avenue, the gunman took off into an alley. Investigators are now testing a water bottle they believe he dropped there for DNA evidence.
Still, Duffey said DNA will only be immediately useful if the killer has already been arrested in the United States and is in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
“If CODIS isn’t a match, that DNA doesn’t mean anything until you have someone in custody (to compare it to),” Duffey said.
UNITEDHEALTH CEO ASSASSIN LEAVES A MESSAGE TO ‘ISSUE A STATEMENT’ OR ‘THROWN THE POLICE’: DETECTIVES
Surveillance images released by the NYPD show the alleged suspect wanted in the shooting of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (NYPD)
A genealogical DNA profile could be created to compare with existing DNA profiles submitted to ancestry websites, but the time-consuming process could take too long to catch a killer at large.
“If there is a genetic match, you get a family profile, but an investigator (then) needs driver’s licenses, photos and criminal backgrounds,” Duffey said.
A genealogical profile, Duffey said, likely won’t come into play until the other leads go cold.
“But let’s say the family game coming up is in Atlanta. That could be a start because we think the bus from Atlanta has arrived,” Duffey said.
3. A discarded cell phone
A cell phone, believed to belong to the shooter, was also found in the alley from which he escaped.
Video has also emerged of the unidentified man with a mobile phone to his ear less than 15 minutes before he opened fire.
“If he was indeed calling at that moment – his phone was live – you can collect data from the cell tower. For that you need the search warrant, and it’s a lot of data,” said former NYPD inspector. and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro previously told Fox News Digital.
This undated photo from UnitedHealth Group shows Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)
“You’ve got the video. You’ve got a pretty good place and time. So what that does is it puts the phone in a certain cell grid and you look around at the data when it looks like the call has been made. And if you look at the calls made there, through the process of elimination, you don’t just get the phone number assigned to that phone,” Mauro added “And now you have a real data point.”
But cracking a cell phone can take anywhere from seconds to weeks, Duffey said.
Some devices can be quickly unlocked using technology like Cellebrite, which plugs into a phone and “allows everything on that phone to be downloaded into a fantastic, readable, usable product,” Duffey said.
But in other cases, such as when biometric security is difficult to circumvent, law enforcement must contact the service provider, which lengthens the process. Duffey said certain companies are more receptive to law enforcement than others because some put their safety record and the integrity of their security measures ahead of investigations.
4. Bullet casings with a message
Three shell casings with the words ‘deny’, ‘depose’ and ‘delay’, similar to a popular healthcare expression – ‘delay, deny, defense’ – were left at the scene.
These casings can be searched for DNA evidence, and the message left on them may indicate a motive.
An NYPD detective told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the words were “clearly intentionally left there to make a statement.”
Bullets hit the sidewalk outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/AP)
‘This will help identify a motive and ultimately the suspect,” the detective said.
Alternatively, former Washington, DC homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News Digital that the message could have been left to “throw investigators away.”
5. A flirty exchange caught on camera
A clear image of the suspect was captured at the AYH Hostel where he stayed from November 24 to 27. Although others at the hostel said the man wore his mask at all times and only pulled it aside to eat, he is said to have pulled it aside and smiled while talking to a receptionist.
While facial recognition software has come a long way in the last twenty years, Duffey says, the picture is probably not clear enough to get a reasonably small set of matches.
“Still images can easily be distorted from what that person actually looks like,” Duffey, who used earlier versions of facial recognition in bank robberies a decade ago, told Fox News Digital. “There may be some distortion as this is not a good video recording.”
A screenshot of surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows a person of interest wanted in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (NYPD Crime Stoppers)
Duffey said certain “points” are required to match a photo with an existing driver’s license or passport photo. He said that is why travelers can no longer smile in their passport photos.
“If you took a high school yearbook photo and submitted it, with no glasses on, no covering, I guarantee it will work fine if that person has a driver’s license or passport photo in a state where law enforcement can use facial recognition technology,” said he. “Now you’re taking a grainy photo. That’s just not enough.”
However, he said the image is likely good enough that a member of the public who recognizes the shooter could come forward.
A screenshot of surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows a person of interest wanted in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (NYPD Crime Stoppers)
6. Surveillance footage
The NYPD has access to more than 18,000 security cameras through its Domain Awareness System. But sifting through that footage — along with extra surveillance of businesses in the killer’s path — could be a Herculean task.
“Digital video recovery teams (are) detectives who train, go out and collect all the surveillance video from doorbells, cameras and all the cameras in the city (to collect evidence) with whatever equipment they have. They can quickly download it, put it on their forensic USB stick, take it back to a police station and have it uploaded quickly and easily,” Duffey said.
A screenshot of surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows a person of interest wanted in the shooting death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. (NYPD Crime Stoppers)
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“That’s annoying,” he said. “I’ve been a part of that, (and) you have to put in a full team that’s probably looking at (footage) 24/7.”
Duffey said investigators are likely looking for images of the attacker when he first arrived in the city about 10 days before the shooting, in case there is a clearer view of his face.
