Police are questioning a man in Pennsylvania in connection with last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEOBrian Thompson, law enforcement officials sources familiar tell mutliple news outlets.
An employee at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, called in the tip on Monday about seeing a man who looked like the person of interest police have been searching for, according to CNN.
The 26-year-old man was taken in for questioning, and it was discovered that he was in possession of a ghost gun that matches the gun believed to have been used in the assassination-style killing that took place outside a New York City hotel on Wednesday, a senior law enforcement official told the New York Times.
The man also had a supresser for the gun and several fake identification cards, including one the NYPD believes was used by the gunman, and documents that investigators want to examine as potentially relating to motive, CNN reported. A handwritten manifesto that criticized health care companies for putting profits above care was also found, according to a senior law enforcement official.
The new information, which is being investigated as a new lead, comes as a private funeral is set to be held Monday for Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO who was gunned down as he arrived at the Hilton hotel in Midtown for an investors’ conference.
Police have been searching for the gunman since the shooting and say at this point they believe he has left New York City.
The gunman arrived in Manhattan ahead of the shooting and used a fake ID and paid cash during the 10 days he was in the city, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters Friday.
He wore a mask covering his face most of the time he was seen on security footage – though he lowered his mask while speaking with a hotel employee. Police have circulated images of the suspect without his mask hoping that someone who may know him will come forward with information.
The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction. That’s on top of a $10,000 reward offered by the NYPD.
On Friday, the officers found the shooter’s backpack in Central Park. They also found bullet casings at the scene of the shooting with the words, “delay,” “deny” and “depose” on them.
Some of those words are often used by critics of insurance companies to criticize them for delaying payments, denying claims and defending their actions.
Meanwhile in New York City, scuba divers have been searching one of the ponds in Central Park for evidence as K-9 dogs have been sniffing around in the area where the suspect’s backback was believed to have been found Friday. The backpack and its contents have been sent in for forensic testing.
