NYPD publishes unmasked photo of smiling suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing.

Police in New York City are still trying to identify the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan. The suspect’s photos have been made public.

One of the two images of the murderer that the NYPD made public on Thursday featured the suspect grinning.

The NYPD released the following images of a person of interest who is wanted for questioning in connection with the December 4 homicide in Midtown Manhattan.

Everything suggests that this was a planned, targeted attack rather than a spontaneous act of violence.

The NYPD was conducting a comprehensive investigation and was offering a $10,000 reward for information that would identify the culprit. However, the motivation of the shooter remains unknown.

Around 6:46 a.m. on Wednesday, Thompson, a 50-year-old Minnesota native, was shot at close range outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Manhattan’s 6th Avenue. Thompson was supposed to appear at an investor meeting.

The crime is described as a targeted attack by the police.

The suspect, a white male dressed totally in black, was spotted strolling outside the Frederick Douglass Houses, a public housing project on the Upper West Side, as early as 5 a.m., according to ABC, over two hours prior.

A Starbucks security camera near West 56th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan recorded Thompson’s final sighting almost half an hour before he passed away.

Police noticed the shooter strolling alone to the New York Hilton Midtown, where Thomson was supposed to give his conference speech, approximately five minutes prior to the victim’s arrival.

Then, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, the culprit emerged from behind a car and shot Thompson in the right calf and back.

CBS video footage shows that the suspect fled the scene, riding an e-bike into Central Park at 6:48 a.m., and was apprehended riding out of the park on West 85th Street just before 7 a.m.

The Times claims that the NYPD used a wide range of investigators, including plainclothes and uniformed dogs, drones, and helicopters in their haste to discover the murderer.

Investigators are also reportedly trying to use facial recognition technology to identify the culprit in surveillance photos.

The attacker was found by authorities at a hostel on 103rd and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, CNN said. According to a law enforcement official who spoke to the site, investigators were able to get one picture of the guy without a mask in his dormitory.

It’s unclear if the suspect’s photos posted on X correspond to those in CNN’s report.

A cryptic statement left at the site is one of several clues that investigators are now concentrating on in the hopes of identifying the murderer.

According to ABC News, several of the live rounds and shell casings left outside the Hilton hotel had the phrases “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” inscribed into them.

The guy apparently left a cell phone and a Starbucks water bottle in an alleyway when he ran away. The goods are expected to yield fingerprint or DNA evidence, according to investigators.

After a preliminary examination, authorities believe it was clearly not a random act of violence, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

“We think this was obviously a targeted shooting,” he said on Thursday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. I’ve worked in law enforcement for years, and I’ve never seen a silencer. We were all somewhat shocked by that.

Adams went on: We think we’re going to catch this individual, and we’re headed in the right direction.

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