The New York City police believe that the suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, may have left the city shortly after the incident, possibly by taking a public bus.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN on Friday that the police released a photo of the suspect without a mask on Thursday, hoping that “more people outside of New York City would see this photo.”
This is the first interview with senior officials of the New York Police Department since the shooting incident occurred.
Joseph Kenny, head of the NYPD detective squad, stated that the police are conducting a “very, very extensive video review,” examining footage from near the crime scene at the Hilton Hotel to residential areas in Manhattan, conducting a wide net search.
He said that the footage shows the suspect leaving the scene on a bicycle after shooting Thompson on Wednesday, and then taking a taxi to the Port Authority Bus Terminal near West 178th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.
“These buses are interstate buses. That’s why we believe he may have already left New York City,” he said, adding that the police are working to determine which bus the suspect may have boarded.
He later added, “We have video of him entering the Port Authority Bus Terminal. We have no footage of him leaving, so we believe he may have boarded a bus.”
In addition to buses heading west, the Port Authority Bus Terminal also has shuttle buses that transport passengers across the Hudson River to Fort Lee, New Jersey, and beyond.