Authorities are questioning a person of interest in connection with last week's shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Detectives are interrogating the Altoona, Pennsylvania man, in part, because he was allegedly found to have a firearm similar to the one used in the shooting, sources said Monday, WNBC-TV reported.
The person of interest was stopped by police while traveling by bus through Pennsylvania, law enforcement officials told CNN. He purportedly had a gun suppressor and several fake IDs on him.
Thompson, 50, was in New York City for the company's annual investors meeting Wednesday when he was ambushed by a masked shooter who fired off several rounds into his back and leg, leaving him mortally wounded.
The killer then fled – first on foot, then by e-bike. He subsequently boarded a bus departing New York City, leaving authorities to believe he is no longer in the area.
Preliminary evidence indicated Thompson's murder was a "premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who confirmed the suspect was "lying in wait" for at least five minutes before he approached the victim, told reporters at a press conference.
At the crime scene, investigators recovered live 9mm rounds and three discharged casings engraved with words "deny," "depose," and "defend," as reported by the New York Post. The words appear to allude to the title of Jay Feinman's book "Delay, Deny, Defend," which criticizes the practices of insurance companies.
Last week, police released surveillance images of the shooter with his face mask pulled down, smiling and flirting with a female front desk worker as he used a fake New Jersey ID to check into the HI New York City Hostel prior to carrying out the deadly incident.
The assassin, who is believed to have arrived in NYC 10 days before the shooting, was also spotted at a nearby Starbucks that same day.
While the mysterious gunman has managed to evade capture for nearly a week, a former NYPD detective hinted it's only a matter of time before he's caught.
"Even though it seems like three days, he's gone in the wind, you'll never see him again, that's not always the case," retired Det. David Sarni, who spent 27 years on the force, and is now an adjunct professor of criminal justice at the City University of New York, said. "You don't have a particular timeframe in which you apprehend anybody. You're just trying to build that case. So when you have probable cause to make the arrest, you do."
"This is a multifaceted investigation," he added. "It takes some time. Nothing is easy."
Over the weekend, police released two new photos of the masked suspect appearing in the back of a taxi.
A $10,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to an arrest and conviction.
A motive remains under investigation.
