On Wednesday morning, someone shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan before walking away and then getting on a Citi Bike that they rode to Central Park, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenney during a press conference. Thompson was scheduled to appear at the company’s investor meeting today, which was canceled after the shooting.
Now Lyft, which owns the bikeshare service, says it’s prepared to help investigators if the shooter left a digital trail while renting or using one of its bikes. Lyft spokesperson Eric Smith said in an email to The Verge that the company is “ready to assist law enforcement.” However, as of the time the company responded to our inquiry, investigators hadn’t yet made contact.
“As far as where he got the Citi Bike, we’re still working that through,” Kenney told reporters, adding that the department was gathering video from “numerous sources” but that it doesn’t “have video or witness confirmation on how he obtained that bike.”
Kenney said it looked like the killer “specifically targeted” Thompson and that “at this point, we do not know why.” The CEO’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that “there had been some threats.”
Police officials were spotted asking around for video footage of a Citi Bike kiosk on Madison Avenue and 82nd Street in Manhattan early Wednesday afternoon, reports The New York Times. NYPD shared images of the shooter, including one of them on the bike, and asked that anyone with “information as to the identity or location of this individual” contact police at 1-800-577-TIPS.
