UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder manhunt enters sixth day – latest

Joe DeVito was on a long drive from a gig in Nashville to New York on Thursday with the news of a health insurance CEO being gunned down heavy on his mind.

He saw that people were using the death as an opportunity to express anger at the health insurance industry and share their own stories of being denied coverage for care. Along the way, in Virginia, he pulled over at a rest stop to record a song about it.

“I wanted to throw my two cents in and try and try and convey that rage, and why people are so mad,” he tells The Independent.

Richard Hall has the full story.

When the CEO of one of the largest medical insurance companies in the United States was gunned down on the street in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, his death quickly turned into a larger conversation about the much-reviled industry in which he worked.

Brian Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, had been in New York City for a conference when he was killed in what police believe was a targeted shooting.

Among hundreds of posts on social media about the shocking murder, many people were moved to talk about the injustice of the health insurance industry. Often the dark jokes on X, Instagram, Reddit and TikTok spoke to how cruel medical insurance companies can be to their customers. Some even wrote folk songs about the event.

Read Richard Hall’s full analysis below.

Gun-detecting police dogs were deployed to search for the weapon used to kill Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, who died last Wednesday.

Authorities deployed the K9 unit to search Fort Tryon Park, while they separately searched subway stops near the George Washington Bridge, a senior law enforcement officer told NBC on Sunday.

The weapon, which police believe the suspect dumped before fleeing New York City, has not yet been found.

A small elite team of divers were again deployed in Central Park on Sunday, after first combing through waters on Saturday, the source said.

The gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel on Wednesday is still at large – but police appear to be honing in on the suspect’s identity as their search intensifies.

Thompson, a 50-year-old Minnesota resident, was due to speak at an investor meeting when he was gunned down at point-blank range around 6:45 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown on 6th Avenue in what police are calling a “targeted attack.”

Andrea Cavallier, Madeline Sherratt and Katie Hawkinson take a closer look at the case.

Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole believes the man who gunned down Brian Thompson last week won’t evade capture for much longer.

The manhunt for the shooting suspect has entered its sixth day following the murder of the UnitedHealthcare chief at point-blank range on Wednesday outside the New York Hilton Midtown.

O’Toole, who helped track down the Unabomber during her career at the bureau, believes that the suspect’s days are numbered as he’s bound to “make a mistake”.

“I’m thinking we’re going to know who this is within a matter of a few more days, if that,” O’Toole told CNN. “The ability to stand up against that kind of an investigation, one person can’t do it, no matter how arrogant you are.”

She added: “You’re bound to make mistakes.”

“This week, New York City officials sent a tough message on crime: If you shoot somebody in the middle of the street, you better get on your bike, hop on a bus, and get the heck out of here, mister,” Jost said.

The former Boston police commissioner who led the response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Ed Davis, has shared his disdain over the public’s reaction to Brian Thompson’s murder on Wednesday.

New York residents are said to have held a look-alike competition for the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO over the weekend, while dozens of people have flocked to social media offering support for the masked assailant.

Davis noted that he has been “shocked” by the public’s “lack of sympathy” and reluctance to assist in the search for Thompson’s killer.

“I’ve been watching it, and I’ve been shocked by it,” Davis told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. “It’s actually troubling to see it, and I really am surprised that people are reacting that way considering the tragic loss here and the violence of what happened.”

He added: “It’s a huge problem. People’s lack of sympathy is really troubling. And the problem with that is, the people who have this kind of animosity, simply because of the circumstances may not be prone to help—and the police are really looking for help from the public on this.”

New York Police Department officers arrived in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday to continue their investigation into the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to CNN.

Police say the suspect arrived in New York City on November 24 after jumping on a Greyhound bus departing from Atlanta, Georgia. However, officials are not yet sure exactly where he boarded.

Atlanta police are assisting with the investigation.

The FBI joined the investigation earlier this week as well, offering a $50,000 reward for information on the suspect.