(NewsNation) — Authorities are searching for the gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday, and little is still known about him or why he attacked the executive.
Thompson, 50, was shot just before 7 a.m. near a hotel on 54th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, sources told NewsNation.
The gunman had been anticipating Thompson to arrive at the hotel for an investors meeting, police said.
This was a “premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference. The suspect was “lying in wait for several minutes.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to catch the gunman.
“This was not what appears to be a just random act of violence. It seems to be clearly targeted by an individual, and we will apprehend that individual,” he said.
What do we know about the suspect?
The shooter appears to be a “light-skinned male. He’s wearing a light brown or cream-colored jacket, a black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a very distinctive gray backpack,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Many people passed the person by, but he “appeared to wait for his intended target,” according to Tisch.
As Thompson arrived at the Hilton, the shooter stepped out from behind a car and fired multiple rounds, striking Thompson in the leg and back. Kenny said it appeared that the “gun malfunctions as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.”
The suspect then ran through an alley, hopped on an electric Citi Bike and rode through Central Park on Center Drive.
“I hear a shot,” a witness told Nexstar local affiliate WPIX. “When I look around, I saw a guy with a gun. He shot three times, then he starts running.”
Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel and a cell phone from the alleyway through which the suspect fled. They were also searching Thompson’s hotel room and interviewing his UnitedHealthcare colleagues, Kenny said.
While the shooting was targeted, police say they still don’t know a motive for the attack.
What is happening with the manhunt?
A search for the suspect is ongoing as of 3 p.m. ET.
Authorities have deployed police drones, helicopters and dogs in an effort to find the shooter and have a “massive presence” in Manhattan following the shooting, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.
“We have the drones up. We have aviation out. We have canine out,” he said. “An incident like this happens — we don’t spare any expense.”
The electric bike the shooter took off in has a GPS system, which authorities are tracking, they said.
“The last we see with him on that bike is in Central Park,” Kenny said. “There are GPS on those bikes. We’ll be working with the company.”
The NYPD is offering up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest in the case.