New York Police Department officers are on the ground in Atlanta following the execution-style shooting of health care executive 50-year-old Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday.
NYPD confirmed to Channel 2 Action News on Saturday night that officers from their department have been in Atlanta as part of the investigation. Both police departments previously confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they were cooperating in the investigation in the wake of reports that the suspect in the deadly case arrived in New York City from a bus whose route originated in Atlanta.
The killing has captured the nation’s attention in part because of its brazenness, Thompson’s position in the health care industry and the shooter’s calm, collected demeanor in video footage of the killing.
Atlanta became officially linked to the case Friday afternoon when local police acknowledged they are assisting the New York Police Department in the investigation. But officials did not share any other details and directed all questions to the New York agency.
At the bustling Greyhound Atlanta hub Friday, one topic of conversation dominated among the crowd: The station had been linked to the recent fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in New York City.
Media reports previously indicated that investigators believe the shooting suspect arrived in New York on a Greyhound bus that originated its route in Atlanta. A Greyhound spokesperson told the AJC on Friday that the company is “fully cooperating with authorities to assist in their efforts. As the investigation is ongoing, we are unable to provide further comment at this time.”
Cue the speculation at the Greyhound Atlanta station, where regulars in the area were happy to discuss the story but believed it was unlikely that the killer could be traced back to Forsyth Street.
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Several men on the sidewalk outside the station, all of whom declined to share their names, were already chatting about the case when approached by an AJC reporter. They seemed bemused as they watched multiple TV news crews set up for live shots outside.
A man dressed for the cold weather in an insulated black jumpsuit speculated that the suspect was Russian, but added that a Russian man walking up Forsyth Street would “stick out like a sore thumb.”
“This is a predominantly Black area,” he told the AJC. “Most white guys who walk up this street are cops.”
Another man wearing a gray quarter-zip sweatshirt said he wasn’t sure what reporters and investigators thought they might find at the Greyhound station.
“He could have come through here and we wouldn’t even know,” the man said. “He could be any one of a thousand people.”
Comments on social media ranged from curiosity to observations about bus travel and health insurance.
“As someone who has sat on a bus from Atlanta to New York, I can tell you the shooter probably boarded that Greyhound a perfectly normal guy,” X user Dan Ewen tweeted.
“If they know the UHC shooter boarded the bus in Atlanta a week ago, then they knew who he was,” X user Steve Wilson speculated.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
According to CNN, authorities do not know if the suspect took the bus from Atlanta or if he boarded at one of the stops along the way. There are multiple Greyhound stations around the city, and the company’s routes from Atlanta to New York typically include about 10 stops in other large cities like Charlotte, Greensboro, Washington and Baltimore. The trip is scheduled to take a little more than 18 hours.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Shawn Medley owns Dripp Coffee, a mobile shop that sets up on the corner of Forsyth and Garnett streets three days a week. Medley said she’s been working at this location since May but hasn’t seen or heard anything unusual in recent days.
“It’s the Greyhound station, so there’s always some type of police activity around here,” she said.
She was familiar with the New York shooting but did not realize the suspect’s bus had departed from Atlanta. Medley said her customers had not mentioned anything about the story to her, though she had noted the appearance of reporters.
Authorities have continued to gather details about the suspect but have not released any further information about his identity or possible whereabouts.
In New York, Port Authority police believe the suspect arrived Nov. 24 and checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side sometime before the shooting, CNN reported. Police released a photo of the suspect smiling at the hostel’s check-in desk and said they had taken DNA samples from a water bottle found there, according to The New York Times.
Investigators “have reason to believe” that the suspect has left the city, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish said Friday in an interview with CNN. In the same interview, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators obtained surveillance footage of the suspect entering the Port Authority bus terminal after the shooting but not exiting, leading them to believe he had departed.
The NYPD put out images of the suspect Thursday in the hopes someone recognizes him. Police are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the gunman’s capture.
“The full investigative efforts of the NYPD are continuing, and we are asking for the public’s help,” the NYPD said on X as they released the new images.
An FBI spokesperson told the AJC on Saturday that the agency had joined the investigation and is offering an additional reward of $50,000 for information.
“It’s standard practice for the FBI to assist our law enforcement partners if we have resources to benefit their investigation,” the FBI said.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The suspect is accused of killing Thompson as he walked to a Hilton hotel on West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue, where he was about to address colleagues and company investors at a conference, police said. Harrowing surveillance footage appeared to show the man shoot Thompson in the back, before firing at least three more times.
He is then accused of fleeing the scene on a bicycle and disappearing in Central Park.
— Staff writers Rosana Hughes, David Aaro and Caroline Silva contributed to this article.
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