Month: December 2024

The NYPD’s principal “person of interest” in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson arrived in Manhattan late last month after a long bus ride from Atlanta — then stayed at a hostel ahead of Tuesday’s shocking act, law enforcement sources tell various outlets. Many more details are piling up — from the remarkable weapon cops think he used to the type of pricey backpack he seems to have ditched in Central Park — but there’s still no name to go with the smiling face captured by the hostel’s front-desk security camera.  

Police say the man arrived in New York City on Nov. 24 — the Sunday before Thanksgiving — stepping off a Greyhound bus at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan around 9pm. That particular bus route originates in Atlanta. Some reports say police don’t yet know where he boarded the coach, while others indicate investigators believe he was aboard from the start of the nearly 900-mile journey from Atlanta to New York, which can take 20 hours or more on Greyhound.  

Police sources say he then checked into the HI New York City Hostel  at Amsterdam Avenue and West 103rd Street, on the Upper West Side near Central Park. The revelation of his face appears to have come during a flirtatious moment of weakness as he interacted with a woman working the hostel’s front desk, lowering his mask to beam at her across the desk. The suspect left the hostel on Friday, Nov. 29, only to return via Uber to check back in the very next day.  

He reportedly used a bogus New Jersey driver’s license to book his stays at the hostel, where he roomed with two apparent strangers. “That’s not clever, because there is recording, video all over the place,” John Nielsen, a visitor from Denmark who’s been staying at the hostel for the past week, told the Times.  

Police have taken keen interest in a gun sale in Connecticut — involving a highly-uncommon weapon that appears similar to the one seen in the video of the killing. “It’s a covert-type weapon. It is not sold widely,” said CBS News law enforcement contributor Rich Esposito. “They’ll go to the dealers of that gun and try to establish if they know who this person is.” 

According to CBS News, police believe the murder weapon is a B&T Station SIX-9, which comes equipped with a sound-suppressor and retails for around $2,100. Note carefully how B&T describes its latest version: 

This updated, integrally suppressed pistol features a new grip and updated magazines, yet maintains its non-descript appearance, whisper-quiet sound signature and unique rotating bolt operation. This model in 9mm wears a 3-in. barrel. It finds its operational success as a magazine-fed, non-auto-ejecting single-shot functioning in a rotational bolt action. It is beautifully enhanced by wipe suppressor, and a baffled suppressor is an available option for those who prefer that design. 

🚨𝕏 WARNING – GRAPHIC VIDEO 𝕏🚨

🚨BREAKING: Footage of Killer Gunning down CEO of UnitedHealthcare! Looks like the gun got jammed but then he re-unloads on him. Do you think this was a trained marksmen or random? pic.twitter.com/202ls9L3lv

— Professor Nez (@professornez) December 4, 2024

The “non-auto-ejecting single-shot functioning” is consistent with what’s seen in the video of the shooting, as the assassin manipulates the pistol after firing each shot — something that both casual observers and experts had widely attributed to the pistol malfunctioning. Here’s how the operation of the Station SIX looks with the 45-caliber version: 

It’s the B&T Station Six 9mm pic.twitter.com/gWoX7nFlxv

— Maxwell Little, M.Ed 🇺🇸 (@MaxHPF) December 5, 2024

The suspect shot the 50-year-old Thompson — who was arriving at the New York Hilton Midtown for an investors’ meeting at 6:45 am — in the back and leg before leaving first by foot, then using an e-bike that he rode through Central Park. Police think he exited the park at West 77th Street — minus the backpack he wore during the killing and as he rolled into the park.

Some internet sleuths think they’ve figured out the make and model of that backpack — concluding it’s an Everyday Backpack sold by Peak Designs between 2016 and 2019, TMZ reports. It’s not cheap: Marketed for use by photographers but also used by others, the latest version goes for about $250.  

Investigators recovered 9mm shell casings and live rounds at the shooting that were adorned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” written carefully with a sharpie. Those words are open to interpretation, but many are pointing to their similarity to the title of Jay Feinman’s book, “Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims And What You Can Do About It.” Given that, police are looking for people who may have reason for outrage at an individual coverage decision rendered by the health insurance giant. That could be quite a long list of people: Recent data from Lending Tree shows UnitedHealthcare has some of the highest claim denial rates of any US insurance company —  a jarring 32% compared to 17% for Blue Cross Blue Shield. (They may also want to talk to former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz.) 

There are many more clues undergoing intense police scrutiny. Less than a half-hour before murdering Thompson, the suspect used cash to buy drinks and snacks at a Starbucks near the ambush site. Police think they’ve obtained a water bottle and candy wrapper he left at the store, along with a coffee cup he may have drank from. They also found a cell phone in the alleyway that comprised part of his getaway route — a route that, at least this far along, has proven quite effective. 

However, his flirty smile at a female hostel clerk and choice of a highly uncommon pistol may prove to be his undoing…