Suspect in UnitedHealthCare CEO shooting used fake ID and traveled by bus to New York, sources say

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The UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing was well-planned, but the suspect gunman’s movements were sloppy, according to a retired FBI supervisory special agent and CNN law enforcement contributor.

Moore said he’s expecting a break in the case soon because there are now photos of the suspect’s face and someone has probably recognized him. The water bottle believed to have been dropped when he fled the shooting scene could be another clue, he said. If the man drank out of it, authorities could collect DNA from that bottle.

The words found on the live round and shell casing, along with the way the suspect has carried themselves and prepared for the shooting, are a “gold mine” for profilers to narrow down their search, Moore said. It could help them find out what kind of person they’re dealing with, what he’s likely to do and how he thinks – informing how they might find him, he said.

The suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “tried to become a ghost” and may have fled to Central Park to quickly change his clothing, a retired NYPD sergeant said.

The suspect used a fake New Jersey driver’s license to check into an Upper West Side hostel and “every attempt that he made was to make sure that … we were not able to pick him up on camera,” Rodriguez said.

Video shows the suspect fleeing the scene on an e-bike into Central Park, which Rodrguez describes as a “beautiful place to change clothing” to evade law enforcement.

Photos of the suspect smiling while his mask was lowered in a flirtatious moment with a hostel clerk may not help authorities identify him if he’s never been arrested before, Rodriguez said.

Authorities are still searching for the gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. As the search extends into a third day, more clues and details have emerged as police continue their investigation.

Police have released photos of surveillance footage showing a man smiling during a flirtatious moment with a female employee at a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side. The photo of the man, who police believe is a suspect in Thompson’s killing, provides a “significant clue” to investigators, according to John Miller, CNN’s Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst.

Here’s what we know:

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Miller: Flirty moment yielded most significant clue yet to help find gunman

1:59 • Source: CNN

Miller: Flirty moment yielded most significant clue yet to help find gunman

1:59

The NYPD released photos of surveillance footage on Thursday showing a man smiling who police believe is a suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, providing a “significant clue” to investigators, according to John Miller, CNN’s Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst.

The man lowers “his mask and gives a big smile,” Miller said — a flirtatious moment between the man and a female employee at a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side.

A screengrab from a video shows what appears to be the suspect in the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s shooting, on W 55th street in New York, before the murder on December 4.

Video shows what appears to be the suspected gunman in the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing on West 55th street in New York City before the fatal shooting.

The suspect can be seen stopping by a pile of trash nearly 30 seconds into the video.

The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson traveled via Greyhound bus to New York before the shooting, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN.

That bus started its route in Atlanta, the sources said, adding that authorities do not know whether the suspect boarded in Atlanta or elsewhere.

A Greyhound spokesperson said the company is “fully cooperating with authorities on this active investigation.”

Police believe the gunman arrived in New York City on November 24 — 10 days before the shooting, a law enforcement official told CNN. The suspect was seen on surveillance camera getting off the bus in New York around 9 p.m. ET that day and was seen walking through the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, according to a law enforcement source. The suspect then went to the hostel. After that, he appears to move around the city, the official said.

The suspect checked out of the hostel on November 29, the law enforcement official said. He checked back into the hostel on November 30, multiple law enforcement sources previously told CNN.

Law enforcement interviewed a female employee at the hostel who said, at one point, she asked the masked man to lower his mask while flirting with him — which is when the photos released by the New York Police Department today were captured, the official said.

The suspected gunman paid the hostel in cash, according to the official. He checked into the hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side using a fake New Jersey driver’s license, a law enforcement official previously told CNN.

Police still don’t know where he got the e-bike he used to flee the scene.

CNN’s Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.

CNN retraced the steps of the man suspected of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.

Video shows the suspect stopping at Starbucks moments before the crime and fleeing the scene on an e-bike into Central Park. Police are still searching for the gunman.

The suspected gunman in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson used a fake New Jersey driver’s license when checking into the Upper West Side hostel, according to a law enforcement official.

Multiple law enforcement officials tell CNN that the ID was used to check in on November 30.

The New York Police Department launched a massive search of Central Park on Wednesday for the missing gray backpack worn by the shooter who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a senior law enforcement official tells CNN.

Police deployed mobile field forces to conduct a grid search, looking through garbage cans, dumpsters and bushes in search of the missing backpack.

But despite the extensive search, investigators have not located the backpack and do not know what was inside the backpack and if it contained the weapon.

The search was initiated after detectives reviewed video from a security camera of the man they believe is the suspect leaving the park through the West 77th Street exit, no longer wearing the backpack seen on the shooter before the shooting when he ordered a bottle of water at Starbucks, during the shooting, and afterwards as he rode into the park on an electric bike, the official said.

CNN has obtained footage of what appears to be the suspect nearby on West 85th street at around 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Investigators also reviewed footage from a hostel on the Upper West Side, where they believe the shooter may have been staying, in which the suspected gunman is wearing the same hooded jacket as seen in the other videos but is wearing a different backpack with a black strap over his shoulder.