A person of interest has been arrested in the fatal sho0ting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The man allegedly had a manifesto on him when he was taken into custody by cops in Altoona, Pa. He also had a gun, silencer, four fake IDs, and other items “consistent” with what authorities were looking for in the case, sources said.
Law enforcement was still trying to figure out the man’s real identity, sources said. He was nabbed on a tip called into local cops, who apprehended him, sources said.
The bust came amid a massive manhunt for the masked sho0ter who lay in wait outside the Hilton on Sixth Avenue where Thompson, 50, was set to speak at an investors’ conference Wednesday morning.
The chillingly efficient gunman snuck up behind Thompson on the sidewalk, pulled out what appeared to be a handgun with a silencer, and calmly unloaded multiple sh0ts at the CEO’s back, shocking surveillance footage showed.
Thompson dropped to the ground after he was hit in the back and right calf, with the gunman quickly running off before grabbing an e-bike and riding away.
Thompson was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced de@d.
The execution prompted a massive manhunt and a steady drip of sometimes bizarre clues and revelations.
The shooter’s bullets found at the scene appeared to have the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” written on them, a potential message from the killer that echoed the title of a book condemning the health care insurance industry’s practice of not paying claims.
Video uncovered during the investigation also revealed the suspected killer’s smiling face, as well as his potential connection to an Upper West Side hostel, where he is believed to have stayed before the murder.
A motive wasn’t immediately known.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has told reporters that the shooter intentionally targeted Thompson, a father of two sons, whose wife said had been the target of recent threats over his job as witnesses milled around the hotel.
“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” she said.
It is not immediately clear if anyone has claimed the $10,000 reward offered by the NYPD and CrimeStoppers.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette “Pauley” Thompson, 51, said that before the sho0ting, the family had received threats relating to her husband’s job leading America’s largest private insurer, NBC News reports.