Investigators also are looking into words, including “delay” and “deny,” that appear to have been inscribed on casings collected after Brian Thompson was shot outside a Midtown hotel.
New York police are investigating messages found on bullet casings at the scene of the fatal shooting of the chief executive of one of the United States’ largest health insurers outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan, according to two law enforcement officials.
The shooter appeared to have targeted the UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, 50, waiting for him early Wednesday morning before firing several shots, leaving him crumpled and dying on the pavement. Officials said casings collected after the shooting appear to have been inscribed with words including “delay” and “deny.”
While ballistics testing was continuing, and the words have multiple meanings, they could be references to ways that health insurance companies seek to avoid paying patients’ claims. UnitedHealthcare has come under fierce criticism from patients, lawmakers and others for its denials of claims.
Police officers, dogs and drones fanned out across the city after the attack, seeking a suspect captured on multiple surveillance videos wearing a dark hooded jacket, a black face-covering and a gray backpack.
“Every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack,” the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Investigators will use a trail of digital evidence, tapping into the records of New York City’s nearly ubiquitous surveillance cameras to help search for a suspect they called “proficient” with firearms. Police officers recovered a cellphone near the scene of the attack and are exploring whether it is connected to the shooting, the police said.
Here’s what else to know:
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Threats investigated: The police are offering a $10,000 reward for information about Mr. Thompson’s killing, and said they are also exploring his background and social media for clues. Mr. Thompson had recently received several threats, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. The police are still investigating the source and exact nature of those threats, the official said.
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Doubt on Citi Bike theory: The police are investigating whether the gunman escaped on an unmarked e-bike, not a Citi Bike as officials had previously said, according to two people familiar with the investigation. A spokesman for Lyft, which operates Citi Bike in New York, said late Wednesday that the company had been informed that the gunman did not use a Citi Bike, though the Police Department has not confirmed that.
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Denials under scrutiny: UnitedHealthcare has faced sharp criticism for denying payments for policyholders’ medical claims, in particular for what is called post-acute care for older people. Last fall, the majority staff of a Senate panel released a scathing report on insurers’ refusal to pay for care for falls or strokes. The report found that under United’s system of prior authorization, the denial rate for post-acute care increased to 22.7 percent in 2022 from 10.9 percent in 2020.
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A city of surveillance: The police will scour a vast network of private and city cameras to trace the shooter’s movements. Already, images of the gunman in the moments before and after the attack show some of his actions: first stopping at a Starbucks, then waiting outside the hotel for Mr. Thompson and shortly afterward fleeing on a bicycle into Central Park.
