UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson is reportedly set to be laid to rest in a private funeral on Monday, Dec. 9, after being fatally shot in New York City last week.
Thompson was killed just before 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4, by a masked man outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue. The Today show reported his private funeral is Monday.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.
Authorities are still searching for Thompson’s killer. On Sunday, Dec. 8, the NYPD released new photographs of the person of interest wanted for questioning in the case.
“The full investigative efforts of the NYPD are continuing, and we are asking for the public’s help,” the NYPD said on X (formerly Twitter). “There is a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.”
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is assisting in the case, previously offered “a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible for this crime,” per a release shared on Dec. 4.
Kyle Mazza/TheNEWS2 via ZUMA Press Wire
Earlier that day, the gunman fired at least three bullets at Thompson — who was at the Midtown Manhattan Hilton location for an investors’ conference — hitting him from behind in the back and leg. The person then fled northbound on Sixth Avenue before getting on an electric Citi Bike and heading towards Central Park, NYPD officials said at a press conference.
“This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premeditated, targeted attack,” the NYPD said of the killing in an X post on Dec. 5.
The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were reportedly discovered by detectives on the shell casings found at the scene where Thompson was shot, the Associated Press and ABC reported, citing law enforcement sources.
Per ABC News, NYPD detectives have been working to establish whether the words found on the casing were meant as a message from the shooting suspect and a hint at their motive. The words are similar to “Deny, delay, defend,” a phrase about the insurance industry to describe a strategy of rejecting claims.
New York City Police Dept./X
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NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch previously told CNN in an interview that investigators now have “reason to believe” the suspect is outside the city.
CNN also spoke to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, who said that after leaving Central Park, the suspect was seen on surveillance footage walking in the area of 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, more than 30 blocks north of where the shooting occurred.
Kenny told the outlet that the person of interest got into a cab, which took him to a bus center on 178th Street and Broadway. A photo released by the NYPD on Sunday, Dec. 8, shows the person in what appears to be the backseat of a cab; another shows him outside the vehicle.
“Those buses are interstate buses,” Kenny said. “That’s why we believe he may have left New York City.”
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