Mayor Adams said Saturday that authorities have the name of the suspect in the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and are closing in on the investigation.
“The net is getting tighter,” the mayor told reporters at the Police Athletic League's holiday party in Harlem.
The mayor said this as the search for Thompson's killer entered its fourth day.
When asked if police knew the name of the perpetrator, the mayor said, “I don't want to make it public right now.'' “If you do that, you're basically tipping the person that we're looking for, so we're not giving him an advantage at all. You can't hide behind a mask yourself.” Let us continue to believe that we can. We have revealed his face. We will reveal who he is and bring him to justice.”
The mayor also praised the “tri-state law enforcement partnership” for the ongoing investigation.
“And how they were able to retrace his footsteps to recover evidence, some of it known and some unknown, but the net is getting tighter. We are going to bring this person to justice,” Adams said.
Thompson, 50, was gunned down on the sidewalk Wednesday as he approached an investor event in Manhattan without any security.
Officials said the assassin followed the killing, which was caught on camera, before hopping on a bicycle through Central Park and disappearing.
A motive was not immediately known, but investigators found bullets with the words “denial,” “defense” and “released” written on them at the scene outside the hotel.
The suspect was seen on surveillance footage entering the park with a backpack on his back, and was also seen emerging from the park without it.
“Tons of tons” of officers conducted a grid search of the vast park and eventually found the bag.
Since the killing, police have released surveillance footage of the suspect smiling murderously at staff at an Upper West Side youth hostel.
What we know about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- Brian Thompson, CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a luxury midtown hotel on Wednesday, police said.
- The methodical killer used a silenced gun outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue.
- The gunman fired multiple shots at Thompson, striking him in the back and right calf, before fleeing on foot.
- The NYPD releases new photos of the hooded suspect standing in front of the Starbucks counter at West 56th Street and Sixth Avenue, just minutes from the Hilton Hotel where Thompson, 50, was shot and killed. did.
- Mr. Thompson was appointed CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Justice Department.
- Thompson's wife, Paulette, said she had received threats before her husband was killed.
- The New York City Police Department is investigating whether live bullets or shell casings left behind by a masked assassin may have been engraved with messages that appear to include the words “denial,” “resign,” and “defense.”
Follow the Post's live updates on news about Brian Thompson's murder.
It was not immediately clear how police identified him, but officials said they were combing through hundreds of tips from the public.
“Some of these people are not going to go home because we're going to bring this person to justice,” Adams said of investigators. “We want to make sure that this person is removed not only from the streets of New York, but from the streets of all of America.”
