US police question man in connection with UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder

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Police are questioning a man in Pennsylvania they believe may have a connection to the murder of a senior UnitedHealth Group executive ahead of an investor event in New York last week, according to a person with knowledge of the case.

Following a tip from a member of the public, local police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, apprehended the suspect at a branch of McDonald’s, the person added. The person of interest had been travelling by bus in the area.

The man was in possession of a firearm with a silencer attachment and fake ID cards matching the description of those used by the individual suspected of shooting Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the Minnesota-based group’s insurance unit, before dawn on December 4.

New York City Police Department detectives expect to interview the man later on Monday or Tuesday, as well as carry out DNA and ballistic tests, the person with knowledge of the case said.

The development comes after a five-day manhunt in which NYPD detectives and federal investigators have criss-crossed the city and nearby states in an attempt to solve the murder, combing thousands of hours of video footage and offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any tips leading to an arrest.

The NYPD released CCTV images of the suspect in a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before the murder and in the back of taxi following the killing.

Thompson’s murder before dawn on his way to an investor event organised by UnitedHealth Group at a Marriott hotel off Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan has raised concerns in corporate America about the security of high-ranking executives.

The killing has also fuelled a debate about the state of medical care in the world’s costliest healthcare system — UnitedHealthcare is the country’s biggest insurer, covering nearly 50mn Americans.

Thompson was shot from behind three times outside the Marriott Midtown hotel at 6.45am local time, before being pronounced dead shortly afterwards at nearby Mount Sinai hospital. Detectives later discovered bullet casings at the scene with inscriptions including “deny” and “defend” — a possible nod to a 2010 book about how insurers deny claims.

Since then the NYPD has gradually pieced together the killer’s movements before and after the shooting. The suspect arrived in New York in late November, staying in a hostel on the Upper West Side.

Following the shooting, he first travelled uptown on an e-bike through Central Park, where his backpack was later recovered. Officers are yet to recover the bicycle, which he is believed to have dumped. Then, he made his way to an interstate bus station, which he was seen on CCTV entering but not exiting, leading officers to believe that he had left the city.