Police will test for DNA and fingerprints on a discarded bottle and protein bar wrapper found near the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot earlier this week in New York City, as the search for the gunman enters its third day.
Police believe the suspect purchased the snack items from a nearby Starbucks just minutes before Thompson — set to address an annual meeting of investors — was shot and killed shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday outside the New York Hilton Midtown, The Associated Press reported.
The medical insurance CEO was shot at least once in the back and once in the right calf, New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. Thompson was pronounced dead roughly 30 minutes later.
While no motive has been specified just yet, police are calling the shooting “targeted.”
“Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a briefing following the shooting. “Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target.”
Tisch added that the attacker waited “several minutes” before he approached Thompson from behind and fired several rounds.
New information came to light as the suspect remained at large Thursday, including pictures of the suspect without his mask, the purchase records of the gun potentially used in the shooting and homes tied to the late CEO that were targeted in what police are calling a “swatting” incident.
A senior New York City law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told NBC News on Thursday that the shells found at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them. ABC News first reported on the words.
The New York Post said those three words also appear in the title of a 2010 book, “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
