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The Latest: FBI offers $50K reward in hunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO

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The Latest: FBI offers $50K reward in hunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO
News

News

The Latest: FBI offers $50K reward in hunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO

2024-12-07 12:35 Last Updated At:12:40

The gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fled New York City by bus, police officials told CNN on Friday.

Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN.

Here's the latest:

The FBI announced Friday night that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the shooter who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer.

The FBI’s New York Field Office is working with the New York City Police Department to identify the gunman.

The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer may have fled the city on a bus, New York City police officials told CNN on Friday.

Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN.

“We have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer made sure to wear a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence in view of the nation’s biggest city and its network of security cameras that have aided authorities piecing together his movements and his identity.

A law enforcement official said Friday that new surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan and provided more clues about his actions in the days before he ambushed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The gunman’s whereabouts and identity remain unknown Friday, as did the reason for Wednesday’s killing. New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.

▶ Read more about the search for the gunman

In many companies, investor meetings like the one UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was walking to when he was fatally shot are viewed as very risky because details on the location and who will be speaking are highly publicized.

“It gives people an opportunity to arrive well in advance and take a look at the room, take a look at how people would probably come and go out of a location,” said Dave Komendat, president of DSKomendat Risk Management Services, which is based in the greater Seattle area.

Some firms respond by beefing up security. For example, tech companies routinely require everyone attending a major event, such as Apple’s annual unveiling of the next iPhone or a shareholder meeting, to go through airport-style security checkpoints before entering.

Others forgo in-person meetings with shareholders.

▶ Read more about how companies protect their leaders

Those images include New York’s subway system, a law enforcement official said. In establishments where the person was captured on camera, he always appeared to pay with cash, the official said.

The official wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

— Mike Balsamo

Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm that serves 1.5 million customers in 12 states, said it’s temporarily closing all six locations.

The firm has offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota, and employs about 3,000 people. Employees will work from home, Medica spokesman Greg Bury said in an email Friday.

“The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security both for all of our employees,” a statement from Medica said. “Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution.”

Bury also said biographical information on the company’s executives was taken down from its website as a precaution.

The insurer cited the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in its announcement about the Dec. 12 event.

“All of us at Centene are deeply saddened by Brian Thompson’s death and want to express our support for all of those affected. Health insurance is a big industry and a small community; many members of the CenTeam crossed paths with Brian during their careers,” Centene CEO Sarah M. London said in a news release. “He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his family and his colleagues during this difficult time.”

Centene Corp. has grown in recent years to become the largest insurer in Medicaid, the state- and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes. Insurers manage Medicaid coverage for states, and Centene has more than 13 million people enrolled in that coverage.

The insurance company also said it’s focused on ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators.

“While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place,” the company said.

But he said Friday that he’s confident police will arrest the shooter.

“We are on the right road to apprehend him and bring him to justice,” Adams said on TV station WPIX.

Later, it removed their names and biographies entirely.

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, a law enforcement official said.

Investigators were also trying to obtain additional information from a cellphone recovered from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled.

The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats.

Experts say today’s political, economic and technological climate is only going to make the job of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them even more difficult, experts say.

Some organizations have a protective intelligence group that uses digital tools such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to comb through online comments to detect threats not only on social media platforms such as X but also on the dark web, says Komendat. They look for what’s being said about the company, its employees and its leadership to uncover risks.

▶ Read more about the steps companies take to protect their leadership

Police said Thursday they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush and think the suspect bought them from a Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The items were being tested by the city’s medical examiner.

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

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)

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)

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Daytona after Dark: The good times never stop, even when the NASCAR racing does

2025-02-16 00:44 Last Updated At:01:00

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The real peril of dumping your body in the belly of a “redneck wheelchair” for a wheelbarrow race comes when you fail to grip both sides of the vehicle. Leave one hand dangling, as one Daytona 500 fan foolishly did last year, and the tip of a finger may get sliced off and lost in the infield muck.

The afterparty morphed into a search party for the missing digit, iPhone lights on, people on knees scouring the ground in what proved to be a futile hunt. The finger never got restitched, though the fan did make a triumphant return to racing, only next time with gloves.

“The more they drink,” wheelbarrow race founder Cush Revette said, “the stupider they get.”

When the sun goes down at Daytona International Speedway, the green flag drops on the infield bash that annually celebrates the over-the-top campy nature of race week.

Wheel out the wheelbarrows. Bust out the karaoke machines and crank the volume to 11. Belly up to the homemade bars built with enough lumber to thin out a Home Depot.

At Daytona after dark, the good times never stop, even when the racing does at a track where, in both speed and celebrations, there are no limits.

The later it gets, the crazier it gets, and revelers compete in the booze-fueled races at their own risk. Though, the organizer noted, paramedics are stationed nearby.

“No liability whatsoever,” Revette said, laughing. “Just a whole lot of fun after the race.”

Line ’em up!

The No. 9 wheelbarrow rests next to one with the General Lee paint scheme, which is next to one nicknamed “Ross Crashtain” and on they go, the fastest cart on one wheel, where competitors sprint and stumble around a makeshift path to the finish — just keep an eye on the checkered flag stuck in the orange cone.

“Just rednecks coming through,” Revette said. “Couldn’t pass a sobriety test in the a.m., much less at night.”

Take a bleary-eyed look around, and the biggest party on a Daytona property so massive it houses its own lake is surely raging somewhere.

In the midst of a row of flashy RVs where flags for Earnhardt and Elliott fly, the baddest bar inside the speedway emerges. Named in honor of its designated spot and color destination, the joint dubbed Red 38 operates like your local neighborhood pub has been picked up and plopped inside the track.

Shots are freely passed around to Daytona regulars — keep an eye out for the Toxic Twins — and passersby. Bottles of booze line the shelves behind the bar and beer flows like at any other watering hole. The louder the music, the better chance some of the men will strip off their shirts and dance the night away. Two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip and scores of NASCAR drivers have popped in for a nightcap and more over the last 17 years.

Cocktail attire required? Please. Try American flag overalls if you want to grab a seat at the bar and catch a game on the big screen.

“Seriously, where else can I go and I get to participate in some beverages, we can play music pretty much as loud as we want, we can smoke cigars, we can tell bad jokes for 10 straight days,” Red 38 founder Bill Fenton said.

Only at Daytona is tailgating as much of a sport as anything happening on the track.

Strong of heart, strong of foot, stronger of liver.

Step inside Red 38 and the roar of the stock cars is about the only sign its location is a racetrack. A banner displays the Speedweeks specials: red beans, rice and gumbo were served at the Super Bowl party, bartender Carmine mixed up old fashioneds at a Bourbon & Cigars night, and put on your neon and “whatever glows” for Saturday’s blacklight party.

Red 38 has last call around midnight (or two hours after track activity ends), but the carousing never really slows down.

“If you’ve got enough gas left in you, you can go two hours after that,” Fenton said. “You usually don’t.”

Hitch a ride on a tricked-out golf cart with under-glow lighting and rap music pulsating, zip past the neon palm trees and the scores of fans playing cornhole and stop when you hear JR Richards belt out “Friends in Low Places.”

Richards, of Mound, Minnesota, and his camping setup double as the hot spot for karaoke night, and everyone is invited. He made friends with other campers, and they have teamed up for years to provide the best in pre-recorded music. No guarantees on the quality of singers.

Last year, on a rainy night, more than 70 campers crammed under the tent for a rousing rendition of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

“It was probably the best experience I’ve ever been part of,” Richards said. “It’s more of a culture. Everyone’s looking out for each other. It’s a family environment. We’ve known people for 12 years here. We love to see them every time we come. We hang out with them pretty much all day and all night. It’s what we love to do.”

Plus, to the best of Richards’ knowledge, no camper has ever been injured belting out Garth Brooks. He can’t say the same about the time he went around the bend to watch wheelbarrow racing.

“I got ran over by the wheelbarrow a couple of years ago,” he said. “They kind of ran over my ankle.”

Climb up one ladder, then one more, over a few cardboard cutouts of NASCAR drivers and beer girls, and the 15-foot-high observation deck offers nearly a 360-degree view of the track — and comes with wafting whiffs of the Boston butt smoking on the grill.

Jay Colburn, of Greensboro, North Carolina, and seven childhood friends — Colburn reunited the group following a near-death experience and has spent thousands to make this happen — have camped at Daytona for eight years. They add to the spot annually, with the latest upgrade being a car hauler that Colburn converted into a five-bedroom suite with air conditioning; they grew tired of doubling up in a four-bed camper.

Colburn’s favorite memory? A NASCAR driver he declined to name that wrecked his golf cart by a nearby bar.

“He had about eight people hanging off his cart and he drove into somebody down there,” Colburn said. “And he got cussed out by a girl. They had to get him out of there. Just people being people.”

Let the guessing game begin.

Colburn believes there’s at least one infield rookie who would enjoy himself at his camping space: He’s counting on President Donald Trump returning to the Daytona 500 for the second time in five years. He gleefully recalled Trump’s pace lap in the armored presidential limo called “The Beast” in 2020.

There’s a chance a passenger car leaving the track might get shouted down by a kid and challenged to race a remote-control car. The beers, try four bucks for a 25-ounce can! Good luck scoring that deal at an NFL stadium or NBA arena. The flags, they promise it’s a “Bad Day To Be A Beer.” Dozens and dozens of crushed cans near each tent prove that slogan true.

Eventually it’s time to park the wheelbarrows, mute the microphones and chug that last beer.

No need to set an alarm for when the sun rises. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will soon boom overhead to wake up everybody — and start the clock ticking toward the next party.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - Fans fill the infield during activities before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham, File)

FILE - Fans fill the infield during activities before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham, File)

Chase Briscoe(19) leads the field at the start during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Chase Briscoe(19) leads the field at the start during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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