New clues emerge as investigators hunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO

NEW YORK (AP) — New clues emerged Thursday in the hunt for the masked gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, including possible leads about his travel before the shooting and a message scrawled on ammunition found at the crime scene.

The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were found emblazoned on the ammunition, echoing a phrase used by insurance industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday.

The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the two officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Investigators also now believe the suspect may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta, one of the law enforcement officials said.

Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, the official said.

Police also released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning in connection with Thompson's killing.

The images, showing an unmasked man smiling in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, add to a collection of photos and video that have circulated since the shooting — including footage of the attack itself, as well as still frames of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand.

Thompson, the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton across the street. The reason for the killing remained unknown, but New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.

The messages on the 9 mm ammunition found at the scene of the shooting mimic the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims.

It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for denying claims or complicating access to care.

Investigators also recovered a cellphone from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city's crime lab is examining those items for DNA and fingerprints.

Investigators were still trying to obtain additional information from the phone Thursday, the law enforcement official said.

A tip that the shooter may have stayed at a hostel brought police Thursday morning to at least two such establishments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos made public Thursday were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel.

“We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement.

Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card when he checked in at the hostel, said one of the officials who spoke with the AP.

Employees who work at the hostel told investigators they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them or passing by the front desk. That person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man pictured in surveillance images released after the shooting, the official said.

After the shooting, police said the gunman fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park.

Members of the public have flooded police with tips — many unfounded. Police searched a Long Island Rail Road train Wednesday night after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but they found no sign of the gunman.

“We’re following up on every single tip that comes in,” said Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson. ”That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together.”

Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer, one of the law enforcement officials told the AP.

Investigators were also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said.

Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle.

Police released several images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning.

Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years.

His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.

The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference after Thompson’s death.

UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.

In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.

Balsamo reported from Washington.

New York Police investigators exit the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Members of the media line a sidewalk outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A woman crosses Amsterdam Avenue outside the HI New York City hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed.(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Police community affairs officers enter the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Police investigators arrive at the HI New York City Hostel, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in New York, where police say the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have stayed. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows a man wanted for questioning in connection to the investigation of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

The UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., lowered its flags to half-staff on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in honor of CEO Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot outside a hotel in New York. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Members of the New York police crime scene unit investigate bullets lying on the sidewalk at the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

A reward poster hangs on a light pole outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot ,Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

A New York police officer stands outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, leaves a news conference at police headquarters, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, concerning the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York hotel. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

This combination of images provided by the New York City Police Department shows the suspect sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

A New York police officer stands on 54th Street outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Bullets lie on the sidewalk at the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows the suspect sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

This undated photo provided by UnitedHealth Group shows UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group via AP)

This still image from surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press shows the suspect, left, sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo)

Members of the New York police crime scene unit pick up cups marking the spots where bullets lie as they investigate the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

LONDON (AP) — Manfred Goldberg was just 13 years old when — stripped to his skin and shuffling toward an SS guard at a Nazi labor camp in Latvia — a man leaned over his shoulder and whispered the secret that saved the young Jew’s life.

“If he happens to ask you your age, say you are 17,’’ the man told him.

Goldberg followed the advice and the guard directed him to the group selected for slave labor. It was only later that he realized that the younger prisoners were sent to die because the guards believed anyone under 17 was too young to work profitably for the Nazi war machine.

“I sometimes think of that man as an angel who was sent to save me,’’ Goldberg said. “I never saw him again.''

Monday’s ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is more than a moment to remember some 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust. It is a reminder that the number of survivors is dwindling, leaving fewer and fewer people to bear witness to the Nazi genocide at a time when Holocaust denial and antisemitism are on the rise.

“I’m only a drop in the ocean,’’ he said in an interview at the Jewish Care Holocaust Survivors' Centre in London. “But I’ve made up my mind that as long as God gives me the strength, physical and mental, to continue doing it, I have committed myself to keep on doing it. So that’s why I’m here at age 94, speaking to you.”

This is his story.

Manfred was born in Kassel, a city of about 220,000 in central Germany. Just 3 years old when the Nazis came to power in 1933, he didn’t realize how the country was changing until he enrolled in the Jewish primary school nearby.

By then, the Hitler Youth, an organization that was outwardly similar to the Boy Scouts but was used to indoctrinate children in Nazi ideology, had begun to spread hatred of the Jews.

“They lay in wait of us sometimes, to ambush us and assault us or curse us,” Goldberg said.

The children had been warned: Run or face more trouble.

As the Nazis systematically excluded Jews from public life, they first tried to deport Goldberg’s father, then threatened to send him to a concentration camp. Manfred’s mother, Rosa, pleaded for time to get him a visa to emigrate.

She heard diplomats at the British Embassy in Berlin might help, so she traveled 200 miles to see them. There she found Frank Foley, a British secret agent whose embassy job was cover for his spying activities and who ultimately authorized visas for more than 10,000 Jews to escape Germany.

“I believe he was a man with a heart,'' Goldberg said.

Foley gave Goldberg’s father an emergency visa and told his mother that the rest of the family could follow in the coming weeks. But 10 days later, on Sept. 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland. The family was split apart.

As war raged, Germany stepped up anti-Jewish laws.

Jews were required to wear a yellow six-pointed star outdoors, and could only buy food in certain shops. When the shops ran out, Jews were out of luck.

One day, Goldberg’s mother told him to put on his bookbag, which covered the star on his jacket, and go with her to a non-Jewish bakery. Standing across the street, she gave him a handful of coins and told him to run into the shop, ask for a loaf of bread, put the money on the counter and grab the bread before anyone could stop him.

“I was 7 or 8 years old. I just did as she asked me to,’’ he said. “But in retrospect, I realize how serious the situation must have been. She probably would have been going hungry, but she couldn’t bear to see her children suffer hunger.''

Then in 1942, the Nazi regime embarked on what it called “The Final Solution,” the systematic execution of European Jews.

When the SS pounded on the door of the Goldbergs’ modest flat, they gave his mother just 10 minutes to pack a suitcase. After three days and three nights on a train without food or water, Manfred, his younger brother, Herman and their mother found themselves in Riga, the capital of Latvia, beginning a nightmare that would take him to five camps over the next three years.

Manfred lost his name. He became No. 56478.

Soon they arrived at a sub-camp known as Precu, where Goldberg and his mother were put to work. But Herman was too young and stayed behind in the camp when Manfred and Rosa went out to work. Eventually, the SS came and took the children away. Manfred never saw his brother again.

“The next morning, both my mother and I had to line up and go to work as though nothing untoward had happened,” he said. “The mourning took place internally, but if we had refused to go to work, we would have lost our lives.”

Only months later, Goldberg faced the same fate as his brother when the unknown benefactor whispered in his ear.

As the Nazis began to lose ground on the Eastern Front, they moved their prisoners west to keep them out of Russian hands and continue the killing.

Goldberg was moved to Stutthof, a camp near the Polish city of Gdansk whose front gate became known as the Gateway of Death because so few inmates left alive. More than 60,000 people died at the camp due to typhus, lethal injections and, beginning in June 1944, after they were gassed with Zyklon B, the same compound used in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

But there was one last horror to come.

With the war in Europe drawing to a close, the Nazis continued to drive the inmates west toward central Germany.

Goldberg and his mother were marched to 25 miles northwest, where hundreds of prisoners were herded onto barges and held offshore for days without food or water. When the SS guards disappeared, the stronger prisoners ripped up planks and used them as oars to paddle the massive boats back to shore.

But just as the inmates landed, the guards returned. First they shot those too weak to escape, and then rounded up those who had made it to shore, including Goldberg and his mother, and started marching them back to Germany.

Then a British tank column arrived.

“Suddenly our armed guards, who moments earlier had still been killing people for not keeping up to speed, turned and ran away in the opposite direction, away from us,’’ Goldberg recalled. “People were jubilant. We’re not under guard. We’re free! We’re free! ... You cannot imagine the joy we felt.’’

After being reunited with his father in England, Goldberg forged a career as an engineer, married and had four children.

For more than 50 years, he refused to tell his story.

He wanted his children to have normal parents, unburdened by the weight of the Holocaust. But about 20 years ago, when he was in his 70s, his synagogue asked him to take part in a remembrance service. His wife, Shary, encouraged him to remember: Who will tell your story when you are gone?

He never looked back.

“Silence never helps the oppressed,’’ Goldberg said. “It always helps the oppressors.”

The living room of Goldberg’s home in London is a testament to all that matters to him, a gallery filled with pictures of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a lifetime of family gatherings. To stand in the room is to see a man who is celebrating the miracle that he was allowed to live.

But there’s also another picture.

It’s a painting of a chubby-cheeked boy with a checkered bowtie and the hint of a smile on his lips. Hung beside the front door, just where it can be seen every time Goldberg steps out into the world, it’s the picture of another boy who didn’t get that chance.

Herman.

Nat Castaneda contributed to this story.

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor displays a photograph of himself with his mother Rosa and younger brother Herman as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor looks across photographs as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor displays a photograph of the barge in Neustadt, that he was transported on as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor displays a photograph of himself taken in Sept. 1945, as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor displays a photograph of himself with his mother Rosa and younger brother Herman as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor displays a photograph of the barge in Neustadt, that he was transported on as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor with his wife Shary display their wedding photograph, as he is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Manfred Goldberg, a Holocaust survivor is interviewed in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)