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Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The FBI has released a poster and new photos of the man suspected of shooting to death UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a pre-dawn ambush outside a Manhattan hotel last week, officials announced Sunday. The photos show the male suspect has a slim build and distinctive eyebrows, the FBI and NYPD said. They were originally released by NYPD on social media.
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"This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premeditated, targeted attack," NYPD said in the post. Police are offering an additional $10,000 for information in the case.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect, whose name still has not been released.
"The FBI's New York Field Office is assisting the New York City Police Department in seeking the public's assistance in identifying the unknown suspect responsible for the shooting death of a 50-year-old male victim outside of 1335 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, at approximately 6:40 a.m., on the morning of December 4, 2024," the poster said.
The search for Thompson's killer intensified after the release of the photos. Authorities found the suspect's backpack in Central Park on Saturday, and searched a nearby pond for the weapon used in the crime, which still has not been found.
New York Mayor Eric Adams says law enforcement is making progress in finding the shooter.
"The net is tightening," Adams said Saturday. "We're going to bring this person to justice," Adams told reporters in a video published by MSNBC.
Police have said they believe the suspect fled New York after the shooting. Thompson's killer waited outside the Hilton Hotel on Wednesday morning where the CEO was scheduled to deliver a speech to investors.
While they have multiple photos of the suspect and have gathered a substantial amount of detailed information, including believing that he traveled to New York City from Atlanta by bus prior to the crime and that he used a fake New Jersey ID to check into an Upper West side hostel the night before the shooting, they are not releasing his name.
"We don't want to release that now," Adams said. "If you do, you're basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking, and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask."
The killer was seen on video shooting Thompson from behind as he approached the hotel doors. Three separate shell casings found at the murder scene were inscribed with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose," largely believed to be references to the terminology insurance companies often use when refusing to pay patient claims.
Rather than sympathy and shock, the crime prompted an outpouring of vitriol toward the healthcare industry in general, and insurance companies specifically.
While some have expressed sympathy for Thompson himself and his family, others posted comments chiding insurance companies for routinely denying claims to everyday working people struggling to pay their insurance premiums while healthcare executives are paid tens of millions of dollars a year. Thompson, for example, was paid $10.2 million last year and received multiple financial bonuses.
"Thoughts and deductibles to the family," read one comment underneath a video of the shooting posted online by CNN. "Unfortunately my condolences are out-of-network."
