The context behind the infamous grin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson‘s suspected killer has reportedly come to light.
The suspect’s face was captured on security camera footage thanks to a flirtatious moment with a woman working the front desk at the hostel he shacked up at, according to a new report.
As previously reported by CNN, the suspect checked out of a hostel in Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Nov. 29 and checked back in on Nov. 30. According to law enforcement officials, the suspected gunman paid for his stay in cash and used a fake New Jersey driver’s license to check in.
As part of the ongoing investigation, officials interviewed a female employee at the hostel who said that she asked the suspect to lower his mask while flirting with him, CNN reports. An official also told the outlet that the flirty moment was seemingly captured on video and released by the NYPD Wednesday where the suspect could be seen grinning.
Further information on the suspect’s movement prior to the killing has also come to light with CNN reporting that he took a bus ride from Atlanta to New York 10 days before he ambushed Thompson outside of a New York Hilton while a conference for the Minnesota-based health insurance giant was underway.
Complicating the matter, however, is that while the bus began its journey in Atlanta, police are unsure whether the suspect boarded in Atlanta or during another stop.
The trip appeared to suggest that the killer knew the conference was coming and arrived at the Big Apple’s Port Authority bus terminal on Nov. 24 to prepare. According to Google maps, the ride takes around 17 hours.
New footage of the suspect also emerged on Wednesday. In one surveillance video obtained and published by The New York Post, a man dressed similarly to the suspect could be seen leaving a subway station at around 6:15 a.m. More footage from Fox News Digital taken from a deli near the area where Thompson was gunned down also sees the alleged suspect walking toward the Hilton Hotel around four minutes after exiting the subway at 6:19 a.m.. The NYPD has yet to respond or verify either of the videos.
A motive for the shooting is still unknown and police have vowed to continue its investigation.
