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UnitedHealthcare CEO killing timeline: Shooter was ‘lying in wait.’ What we know so far

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2 weeks ago

December 5, 2024

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UnitedHealthcare CEO killing timeline: Shooter was ‘lying in wait.’ What we know so far

MIDTOWN (WABC) — A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant.

Police say 50-year-old Brian Thompson was shot around 6:45 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown.

MORE: Who was Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in NYC

FILE – Brian Thompson

Business Wire

Eyewitness News and ABC News have been piecing together what led up to the shooting as investigators work to figure out what happened.

Here’s a timeline of events:

Before the shooting, exact timing unclear
Law Enforcement sources told ABC News the suspected shooter arrived in New York last month on a bus that came from Atlanta.

Police sources said he went through Port Authority Bus Terminal and detectives are looking to see if they can spot him on video.

On November 30, the suspected shooter checked into the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side using a New Jersey license that isn’t his, police sources told ABC News. It’s believed he arrived in the city prior to that date and detectives continue their video canvass to gain a fuller picture of his movements.

A woman crosses Amsterdam Avenue outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York.

AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

On Thursday, police released the first images of the suspect’s face uncovered taken from surveillance video from inside the hostel.

The NYPD released new, clear images of the suspect's face on Thursday as they continue to search for the shooter. — The NYPD released new, clear images of the suspect’s face on Thursday as they continue to search for the shooter.

After the shooting, the NYPD obtained a warrant to search the hostel.

Wednesday, 5 a.m.
The suspected shooter was seen on video outside the nearby Frederick Douglass Houses public housing project, carrying what appears to be an e-bike battery, police sources told ABC News.

6:15 a.m.
Surveillance footage reviewed by police shows someone who appears to be the suspect exiting the subway before the shooting at the 57th Street station on the F line, just blocks from the shooting scene.

Before the shooting
Sometime before the shooting, the suspect is spotted at a Starbucks. The exact time is not clear.

The NYPD has isolated shots of the suspect from a nearby Starbucks before the shooting.

6:29 a.m.
The suspect appeared to walk past a parking lot on West 54th Street at 6:29 a.m. — across the street some 50 meters from the site of the shooting.

Around 6:39 a.m.
According to investigators, the suspected shooter arrived at the scene about five minutes prior to Thompson.

“It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a briefing Wednesday morning. “Many people passed the suspect but he appeared to wait for his intended target.”

6:44 a.m.
The victim was seen on video leaving a hotel across the street where he was staying and walking towards the Hilton.

“The shooter steps onto the sidewalk from behind a car… approaches the victim from behind, and shoots him in the back. The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot. It appears that the gun malfunctions, as he clears the jam and begins to fire again,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Thompson was struck in the back and the leg.

The suspected shooter then fled, first on foot into an alley.

He was later seen riding an electric bicycle north on Avenue of the Americas.

Eyewitness News obtained these photos of the suspect that matches the police description.

6:46 a.m.
“Patrol officers from Midtown North precinct responded to a 911 call of a person shot in front of the Hilton hotel,” Kenny said.

6:48 a.m.
The officers found Thompson on the sidewalk and he was later removed by EMS to Roosevelt Hospital.

In the same minute, the suspected shooter was seen riding into Central Park at Center Drive.

6:59 a.m.
Video obtained by ABC News shows the suspected shooter riding west on West 85th Street.

New video shows the suspect cycling out of Central Park along West 85th street just before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

7:12 a.m.
Thompson was pronounced dead at the hospital.

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