The suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson almost certainly fled New York immediately after the murder, the city’s top detective said Friday.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said they believe the assassin ran from the scene, jumped on an e-bike into Central Park, dumped it, and hailed a taxi to a bus terminal seven miles from where he gunned down Thompson.
But cops do not know which bus he took from Manhattan’s 178th Street terminal, which serves destinations outside the city, including Greyhound services.
“Those buses are interstate buses. That’s why we believe he may have left New York City,” Kenny told CNN during an interview with him and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The revelation turns the hunt for the killer into potentially a nationwide dragnet.
Tisch said the unmasked picture taken of the suspect grinning at the hostel where he stayed before the murder was the “money shot,” because he had carefully been wearing a mask while plotting the killing.
“He’s been traveling and walking around the streets of New York City largely in a mask, with his face covered. We had to go through lots of video evidence to get that one money shot with the mask down,” she said.
ABC reported that police have tracked the suspect’s movements around the city since his Nov. 24 on a bus originating from Atlanta.
According to sources, police have collected video evidence showing the suspect taking cabs, the subway and visiting McDonald’s in the days leading up to the shooting—paying cash and keeping his face covered throughout his travels.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
