UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting latest: ‘Net is tightening’ around suspected gunman

Here are the questions left unanswered as police search for the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday — and everything we know so far about the potential answers:

The New York Police Department found a backpack they say belonged to the suspect in Central Park on Friday.

Watch below as they searched for the key piece of evidence:

Police have not released an official motive for the shooting, but some have speculated the killing might be connected to CEO Brian Thompson’s role in running one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies.

Officials described the killing as a “targeted attack”, and it was later revealed that the gunman left behind a cryptic message at the scene. The words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” were carved into the ammunition the shooter used.

The words are similar to the book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claim and What You Can Do About It by Rutgers Law School Jay Feinman. The book’s blurb describes it as an “expose of insurance injustice and a plan for consumers and lawmakers to fight back.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams revealed Saturday that police do not want to reveal if they’ve identified the suspect’s name.

“We don’t want to release that now,” Adams said of the suspect’s name. “If we do, we are basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask. We revealed his face. We’re going to reveal who he is and we’re going to bring him to justice.”

He also added that the “net is tightening” around the suspect as police continue to gather evidence.

When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in Manhattan on Wednesday, his death quickly turned into a larger conversation about the much-reviled industry in which he worked.

Read more from The Independent’s Richard Hall:

A backpack resembling the one carried by the suspected gunman found discarded in Central Park contrained Monopoly money and a jacket, according to MSNBC. It did not contain a weapon.

Investigators are trying to piece together Brian Thompson’s killer’s movements since Wednesday morning – and where he went next.

Police have yet to locate the man suspected of shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as of Saturday evening.

However, investigators believe he may have left the city after they found footage of him entering the Port Authority Bus Terminal, but did not find footage of him leaving.

The gunman was masked during the shooting and used a fake New Jersey ID to book a room at the HI New York City Hostel, but pulled down the covering during a flirty exchange with a clerk. Police say he arrived in New York after taking a Grayhound bus that originated in Atlanta, Georgia last month.