NEW YORK — Police don’t know who he is, where he is or why he did it.
As the frustrating search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer continued for a fifth day Sunday, investigators reckoned with a tantalizing contradiction: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma.
One conclusion they are confident of, however: It was a targeted attack, not a random one.
They know he ambushed Thompson at 6:44 a.m. Wednesday as the executive arrived at a Hilton hotel for his company’s annual investor conference, using a 9 mm pistol that resembled the guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise. They know ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
The fact that the shooter knew UnitedHealthcare group was holding a conference at the hotel and what route Thompson might take to get there suggested that he could be a disgruntled employee or client, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Over the weekend, police divers were seen searching a pond in Central Park, where the killer fled after the shooting. Officers have been scouring the park for clues and found the man’s backpack there Friday. They didn’t immediately reveal what, if anything, it contained but said it would be tested and analyzed.
Investigators have urged patience, saying the process of logging evidence that stands up in court isn’t as quick as it looks on TV.
Hundreds of detectives are combing through video recordings and social media, vetting tips from the public and interviewing people who might have information, including Thompson’s family and coworkers and the shooter’s randomly assigned roommates at the Manhattan hostel where he stayed.
Investigators caught a break when they came across security camera images of an unguarded moment at the hostel in which he briefly showed his face.
