shell casings found at the scene of just a Brazen shooting in Midtown Manhattan reportedly had the words deny defend and depose written on them according to police sources who spoke to ABC News and new surveillance photos may give us a better look at the potential shooter new details are flooding in about the apparent assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and we're going to bring you the very latest on this investigation right now welcome to sidebar presented by law and crime Jesse Weber okay so at the time of this recording as this is a rapidly developing story law enforcement may be getting closer to identifying the man who walked up behind the CEO of United healthc Care as he was just walking to the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan and shot him shot him in the back and while he was on the ground that is what police sources have told ABC News you see at the time of this recording on Thursday afternoon a senior law enforcement official has told the New York Times that authorities have a picture of the suspected shooter's face from inside a hostel that he was staying in in Manhattan it's called the hi New York City hostel now according to the New York Times the shooter reportedly shared a room with two men with whom he didn't know now to be more precise Crim Stoppers released these new photos of what some Outlets are saying is the suspect NYPD had said earlier on that this was just a person of interest but they show this person's face and they were reportedly taken from inside that hostel the exact date when it was taken we don't know but in one photo and it's kind of eerie this person seems to have a big grin a $10,000 reward is being offered for information that could lead to an arrest in this case and Crim Stoppers Flyers have been posted all over the city 50-year-old Brian Thompson went down after multiple shots were fired he was shot at least once in the leg once in the back now surveillance video from outside the Hilton Hotel shows the gun seeming to jam during this shooting but the shooter just quickly clears it and keeps on shooting and then he walks away from the scene before hopping on an ebike disappearing into Central Park now we're going to get into a lot of details about this and to focus a little bit more about it I want to bring back on Chad SS former deputy founder of proactive Response Group to talk about this Chad good to see you thanks so much for coming here on studio uh just your initial thoughts on this because we haven't had a chance to speak about it yet no I mean disturbing obviously we flew in this I flew in this morning I'm staying a block away uh when this news broke yesterday I was just in shock I mean condolences to the family of this gentleman but when I finally saw the the video of it actually taking place it literally looked like something off of a Netflix film that you see like a a hired hit um I think it's pretty evident by now Jesse this was not a random act I would not say and I would not be surp surprised if with the photo that's already been released uh of this person Ventures I have a feeling law enforcement n ypd already probably knows who this is but obviously they want to keep this investigation you know as secure as possible until they apprehend this but isn't it good to get that photo out so more people could see it 100% and that's what kind of what I'm getting at yeah I guarantee you a friend or family member this photo is circulate circulating distinctive looking 100% I mean they know who he is someone knows who he is someone's going to you know do the right thing I hope and let's get a name and let's bring this guy in you know there were so many aspects about this shooting just taking it first glance from yesterday comes out of nowhere fires the weapon in a very very calculated manner doesn't shoot a nearby bystander which we'll talk about too and is able to escape in such an urban environment like this can't find him yet it seemed professional it seemed like this is not his first time and yet if it's true that he takes off the mass knowing there surveillance footage in this h hosle that feels sloppy well does it say was the mass taken off before is this photo from the hosel before after do we know I I believe it's from before and we just don't know when it was from before sure in 2024 with today's you know DNA digital evidence cameras all across this city it's really hard to get away with crime like this so was he sloppy yes leaving showc casings because people don't think about this when I'm loading around what's on my finger when as I'm loading my magazine I'm I'm there's there is trace DNA being put on those showcasing that are left at the scene they talked about him going into a Starbucks and also getting like a granola bar or something too I'll talk about that but here's the thing you know they they're searching that hostel or they're working on getting warrants for the hostel and also probably interviewing those men that he was staying with what goes into that uh because again this is you need to work fast in a case like this right and and it makes me wonder what goes into processing a scene like that what goes into speaking to those individuals so I've never stayed at a hosel I don't know what kind is any type of identification required right to get in there I'm going to try to build a profile who is this individual how long's he been staying there um you know has he had communication with anybody else has anyone come to visit him um obviously you know where did this gun come from but first and foremost they're going to try to figure out where's this guy from does he have friends or family here in the city if you're staying in a hospitel I would say probably not so is this guy traveling in for this you know Murder per se um there's a lot that's going on but NYPD has some of the best investigators in the world by the way we're going to try to stay on top of the story as much as we can and for that I have to 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bus could he take a train how quickly could he escape the city or is he still in the city it's a massive City what's your take on that the initial getaway is not very hard being on an ebike 6:45 in the morning obviously Jesse you're from this area y I pass that area all the time by the way how many people at 6:45 7 in the morning are on those streets heading to work you blend in very easily I said this before that area filled with ch it's it's a uh tons of Office Buildings people going to work there there are people out and about there and even wearing the mask that's in this city as cold as it is having a full type of ski mask on that's really not going to raise many people's suspicions now getting out of the city again if he if if he had planned this out then he probably already knew exactly how if he is gone he knew exactly what means of transportation is he working by himself did he have help did whoever hire him to do this um those are all these question that need to be built around this but I think you better bet that obviously all you know TSA being notified you know bus Greyhounds all these trains using types of you know facial recognition features um I don't want to go too much into you know the technology that may be be used um to because I don't want to jeopardize this case so let me further this a little bit so according to reporting from Yahoo news in the Washington Post this suspected shooter exits Manhattan's 57th Street subway station for the F train around 6:15 a. m.
and the suspect's clothing on that surveillance matches the images from the NYPD that were released then about 2 minutes later the suspect is inside of a Starbucks on Sixth Avenue by the way I've been in that Starbucks before I'm just saying this I know this environment I get it and then he goes to the scene of the attack where that Starbucks is not far away from there and it's apparently he goes there and is waiting a few minutes before Thompson comes outside and is walking past the Hilton Hotel and the ease with with which the shooter appears to just lie and wait for Brian Thompson fires escapes it has many people wondering if this was a professional hit and another bizarre detail that points to there being more to this than just a random act of violence is that the shell casings found at the scene as I mentioned reportedly had words written on them so two law enforcement officials told the New York Times that while ballistics testing is still ongoing the words depose deny and defend were found on the casings and that is significant because there was a book released in 2010 with a very similar title delay deny defend and that book argues that Health insurers like United Healthcare they try to increase their profits by having claims departments deny claims even if they're supposed to be covered under the person's insurance policy and that's important as we're trying to figure out what could be the potential motive behind this killing now the New York Times reached out to the author of that book JM Fineman he's a professor ameritus at ruter Law School our understanding is he declined to comment Chad those words are so strange and it makes you wonder a oh my gosh does this give us a motive into What's Happening Here versus B could this be throwing investigators off that's what I think that's what you think again there's there's so many different Avenues to look at at at this case so many theories that we can you know dive into here I personally think that is there to throw somebody off I think that someone at the end of the day it will what we've said from the beginning someone is using this guy to do this they coached him they told him how to to do this who knows I may be wrong and this guy planned all this out alone earlier yesterday though Jesse they discussed we now we just reported that you know with the with with the new timestamps he was only there a few minutes before early yesterday it said he had staked the place out for a while this guy's done his homework he obviously has if this is truly a targeted hit he knew this guy's pattern and routine or or knew that he had to someone had to have known what his routine was or he studied him and knew had some inside information right how did he know he was leaving I think he Thompson was staying in a different hotel and was headed towards the Hilton how did he know he was going at that point well I think we we discussed there was some type of event he was he was going to that hotel he going to an investors conference so an investor conference you know how these conferences go there's a there's a usually an agenda sheet a lot of websites even post hey our keynote speakers are this that and the other where did how did he know he was going to be Crossing that street correct so how time how long you know and I don't know when this gentleman flew into town when the CEO flew into town and got here you know where's he originally from is he from this area so so let me let me go a little bit further give everybody a little bit of background about Brian Thompson so Brian Thompson had been the CEO of United Healthcare since 2021 he'd been with the company for 20 years by the way he previously had overseen departments dealing with Medicare and government programs this is according to his LinkedIn page and United Healthcare is based in Minnesota which is where Thompson had lived with his wife and two sons he had traveled to New York for as I mentioned this investors conference that was hosted by the parent company United Health Group that conference was at the Hilton but Thompson as I mentioned was staying in this hotel across the street and he was walking to the Hilton at around 6:45 a. m.
