UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s assassin reportedly left messages on the bullet casings found at the crime scene outside the New York Hilton Midtown.
The casings had the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” written on them, according to police sources speaking with several outlets. The messages leave hints as to the shooter’s motive.
The bullet casing messages hint at bitterness over the practices of UnitedHealthcare or the healthcare industry generally. The phrase is popular in the insurance industry, according to CNN.
Social media users drew a possible link between the bullet casing messages and the 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay M. Feinman.
According to the book’s Amazon description, it serves as “an expose of insurance injustice and a plan for consumers and lawmakers to fight back,” claiming that the denial of “valid” insurance claims is “the result of an increasing and systematic focus on maximizing profits by major companies.”
Police sources told ABC News that police may be closing in on the suspect and have obtained a search warrant for a location where he may have been staying.
Detectives and experts believe the suspect wasn’t a professional killer, citing his mannerisms and apparent weapons jam.
“This is not a professional killer, a contract killer by his mannerisms and by the failure of the weapon. I think when you start looking at all the video footage and you see the malfunction of the weapon with the noise-suppression unit causing a major malfunction, this is not the sign of a hired killer,” Zeke Unger, a liaison to the U.S. Marshals, told CNN.
Police recovered three 9 mm rounds and shell cases at the scene, suggesting that his repeated clearing of the gun was due to malfunctions, as is common in pistols for which a silencer isn’t attached to a Nielsen Device. The apparent malfunctions suggest he wasn’t a professional hitman.
According to the New York City Police Department and released surveillance footage, Thompson was shot multiple times at 6:46 a.m. outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where he was headed to a UnitedHealthcare investor conference. His assassin was wearing a black hooded jacket and a backpack and wielding a silenced pistol.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the shooting a “brazen, targeted attack” and “premeditated.” A $10,000 reward was quickly put out for information regarding the suspect.
Police are vigorously combing over surveillance footage to track down the suspect. So far, aside from the footage of the shooting, police have found footage of the man at a Starbucks shortly before and footage of him escaping on a bike afterward. His face is covered in all the footage.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The assassination has sent shock waves through the healthcare insurance industry, with other CEOs investing in better security.
“The heads of major healthcare concerns and their security departments were adding people, security details, precautions, mail screening — across the country,” said John J. Miller, CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst.