What we know about the NYC killing of healthcare executive

A man is being questioned about the fatal shooting of a healthcare insurance boss in New York last week, officials have told the BBC's US partner CBS News.

UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in the back on Wednesday morning last week outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

Police say Thompson was targeted in a pre-planned killing, for which they do not yet have a motive. Nor have officers revealed a name of the suspect.

It is not clear if the person being questioned is the suspect who authorities have been searching for.

Investigators have been using surveillance photos, bullet casings with cryptic messages written on them, and the suspect's movements to track him down. They are also working with the FBI and authorities in other states.

The person of interest was taken into custody in Altoona, about 275 miles (440km) west of New York City, CBS reported on Monday.

It has not been confirmed whether that person is the suspect in Thompson's killing. Police have not named them.

A source close to the investigation told CBS that the person was taken into custody on an unrelated matter, but was then questioned about the killing.

The source said the person was carrying a firearm similar to the one used in the shooting in New York last Wednesday.

The source also said the physical description matched that of the person of interest being sought by the New York Police Department (NYPD).

On Friday, the FBI offered a $50,000 (£39,200) reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Recent developments in the search have also seen officers dispatched to Georgia, law enforcement sources CBS. It was believed the suspect might have fled to the southern state.

Police have reportedly put together more than 200 images of the suspect from his arrival in New York until he fled Midtown Manhattan after shooting Thompson.

On Thursday they shared two images - the clearest ones so far - of the suspect, one which shows him smiling with his black face mask pulled down. A hostel receptionist reportedly told police that the photo was taken when she asked him to show his face, in a flirtatious moment.

The man was staying at the hostel on the Upper West Side in New York, where he reportedly used a fake New Jersey licence as identification. Police say they have executed a search warrant at the hostel.

Authorities have also been doing a "full sweep" of Central Park - a 2.5 mile (4km) long and 0.5 miles (0.8km) wide area in the heart of the city.

The park's lake was trawled for a second day on Sunday. A discarded backpack found nearby contained a jacket and some banknotes from the board game Monopoly but no gun, sources told CBS.

Officials are also attempting to make use of DNA evidence, including a water bottle and candy wrapper from the crime scene, as well as a Starbucks coffee cup, that they believe are linked to the suspect.

A mobile phone was also discovered in an alley along the suspect's escape route.

So far, fingerprints found left behind have been unusable for identification, police said.

Authorities have been able to put together an incomplete timeline of his movements in the city, from his arrival on 24 November to when he fled after the attack on 4 December.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said on Friday that the suspect arrived in the city on a bus that originated from Atlanta, though it is unclear where he caught the bus along its route.

He then took a cab to the vicinity of the Hilton, the hotel outside which he would later kill Thompson, and spent about 30 minutes there before heading to the hostel.

At the hostel he had two roommates but neither saw his face as he wore his mask while he was around them, Mr Kenny said.

The suspect left the hostel early on Wednesday, returned to the vicinity of the Hilton and stopped at a Starbucks.

Thompson was shot at around 06:45 EST (11:45 GMT).

At 06:48, the suspect entered Central Park. Shortly before 07:00 he left the park and at 07:04 took a cab to the Port Authority bus terminal.

He was not spotted on any cameras leaving the station, so the presumption is that he made his escape by bus.

The shooting took place in a busy part of Manhattan close to Times Square and Central Park. Thompson had been scheduled to speak at an investor conference later in the day.

According to police, the suspect - who was clad in his mask and light brown or cream-coloured jacket - appeared to be waiting for Thompson for five minutes outside the Hilton hotel where he was expected to speak.

Thompson, who arrived on foot, was shot in the back and leg, and was pronounced dead about half an hour later at a local hospital.

The NYPD said that the suspect's weapon appeared to jam, but that he was able to quickly fix it and keep shooting.

CCTV footage appears to show the gunman had fitted a suppressor, also known as a silencer, to the weapon.

Investigators reportedly believe the firearm is a BT Station Six 9, a weapon which is marketed as tracing its roots back to pistols used in World War Two, according to CBS.

Police have reportedly visited gun stores in Connecticut to try to determine where the weapon was purchased.

After the shooting, video shows the suspect fleeing the scene on foot. Officials say he later got on an e-bike, which he rode toward Central Park.

Police believe he left New York, possibly on a bus headed for Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta police released a statement on Friday confirming they are helping New York authorities in the investigation.

Investigators have so far not identified a motive in the killing, but they are focusing in part on words written in Sharpie on bullet casings discovered at the scene of the crime.

The words "deny", "defend" and "depose" were discovered on the casings.

Investigators believe this could be a reference to the "three D's of insurance" - a known reference made by opponents of the industry.

The terms refer to tactics used by insurance companies to refuse payment claims by patients in America's complicated and mostly privately run healthcare system.

The words resemble - but are not exactly the same as – the title of a book called Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.

The book, published in 2010, was written by Jay Feinman, a legal scholar at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It's billed as an exposé of the insurance industry and a how-to guide for Americans on how to navigate the system.

Professor Feinman declined to comment when the BBC contacted him.

Thompson joined UnitedHealthcare, the biggest private insurer in the US, from accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2004.

He rose through the ranks and became CEO in 2021, leading the company through some very profitable years.

In an interview with MSNBC, Thompson's wife said that there had "been some threats" against him earlier, although she was unable to provide details.

"I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him," she said.

According to police in Thompson's hometown of Maple Grove, Minnesota, there had previously been one suspicious incident at his home in 2018.

The incident was cleared with no criminal activity detected. No additional details were provided.