NYC hostel at center of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting investigation: "The most significant clue to date"
NEW YORK -- A New York City hostel is now the focal point of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder investigation.
That's where the NYPD obtained photos of a person of interest, who let his guard -- and his mask -- down as he talked to a woman working at the front desk. Police released new pictures of the person of interest Saturday.
A high-ranking source tells CBS News New York police interviewed the woman, and she told officers she asked to "see his pretty smile."
"They were having a flirtatious moment and he pulls it down and he gives a big smile and that one informal moment between two human beings remains at this moment the most significant clue to date in this whole case," former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.
"He's been traveling and walking around the streets of New York City, largely in a mask with his face covered. We had to go through lots of video evidence to get that one money shot of him with the mask down," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Sources say the man used a fake New Jersey ID with a phony name to check into the hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave. on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Detectives sealed off the room where he was staying and questioned other guests.
"We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, cannot comment at this time," said a spokesperson for Hi New York Hostel.
"People come here, like, jet-lagged, so they sleep during the day, so you can't really be loud in the room or talk to anybody, so you're kind of just minding your own business when you're in the youth hostel," one hostel guest said.
Sources: Person of interest arrived in NYC 10 days before shooting
Police sources tell CBS News New York detectives have put together a series of over 200 images of the suspect, giving them a mosaic of his time arriving in New York, going to the scene of the homicide and his route in fleeing the city.
Authorities identified video of the person of interest arriving in New York City on a Greyhound Bus from Atlanta on Nov. 24, ten days before the shooting, a person with knowledge of the investigation said.
Officials are looking to trace where and when the bus ticket was purchased, and under what name. The bus made multiple stops between Atlanta and New York City, officials said, and it was unclear where person of interest boarded.
While the NYPD is leading the murder investigation, the case is multistate, and the FBI's New York Field Office is assisting in the investigation. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Images of the person of interest have been distributed at least 80 major police departments across the country, sources said.
"In this short period of time, we've made great strides in finding out exactly who's possible for this shooting, and we're going to bring them to justice," Mayor Eric Adams said.
Police sources tell CBS News New York investigators believe the person of interest is no longer in New York City and may have gone to the Port Authority bus terminal at 178th Street and Broadway and boarded a bus bound for Atlanta. The Atlanta Police Department announced they were contacted by the NYPD and will be providing assistance as needed.
"Those buses are interstate buses. That's why we believe he may have left New York City," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said.
Backpack possibly belonging to shooter found in Central Park, sources say
NYPD officers were in Central Park near West Drive on Friday, searching for anything with ties back to the gunman. Eventually, they discovered a backpack they believe belongs to the suspect, a high-ranking NYPD source told CBS News New York.
Former NYPD detective Felipe Rodriguez says he thinks the suspect pre-planned his hiding spot.
"It seems to have been buried in rocks and everything else. This was something that just wasn't done in five minutes, and I am pretty sure that he was able to do this even before he committed the homicide," Rodriguez said. "We actually have to look at the magnitude, and how big Central Park is. It's really big, 256 acres at this point."
Saturday, police said the backpack contained a jacket, but not the murder weapon. The recovered items were sent to the crime lab for forensic tests, which could confirm if they are the suspect's.
"That backpack could have touched DNA, that backpack could contain clothing, that backpack could contain information or a weapon," CBS News law enforcement contributor and former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Rich Esposito told CBS News New York.
Timeline of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter's movements
Police are still piecing together a timeline of the gunman's steps. New surveillance video obtained by CBS News appears to show the suspect walking along West 55th Street at 6:20 a.m. He briefly stops and bends toward a pile of trash before continuing on.
Minutes later, he shows up at a nearby Starbucks, two blocks from the Hilton hotel.
Sources tell CBS News police believe the suspect bought a drink and a protein bar, paying in cash. The NYPD is now running forensic tests on a discarded coffee cup.
Then around 6:30 a.m., surveillance video obtained by The New York Times shows the suspect talking on a cellphone while walking toward the hotel.
Sixteen minutes later, Thompson was killed.
The suspect was then seen riding a bike into Central Park a few minutes later.
"Eventually we have him on 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, walking. He loses the bike, and from there, we have him in a taxi cab, and the taxi cab takes him up to 178th Street and Broadway, which as we know is a Port Authority bus center," Kenny said.
"Delay" and "deny" written on bullets
NYPD sources say the gunman used a B&T STATION SIX gun equipped with a silencer.
"In all of my years of law enforcement, I have never seen a silencer before. So that was really something that was shocking to us all," Adams said.
Detectives are investigating whether the words "delay" and "deny," found written in Sharpie on shell casings, shed light on a motive, possibly referencing a book called "Delay, Deny, Defend" that is critical of tactics allegedly used by insurers.
Investigators are also visiting gun dealers in Connecticut, trying to trace where the murder weapon was purchased, and running photos of the person of interest into facial recognition technologies.
"You can run it against their employee databases, there are databases for criminals, there are military databases, there are many places there are pictures," Esposito said.
The NYPD is offering a $10,000 reward in the case. Police ask the public to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via their website. All calls are kept confidential.
