Former NYPD Inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said the type of weapon used by the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday could work to the police’s advantage, and addressed rumors that the suspect may have worked as a hitman.
“There’s speculation that it’s a hitman, a professional killer and all that kind of stuff. I would just hold back on that and tell people to be aware of the fact that professional hitmen are mostly in movies. They don’t really exist,” Mauro told Fox News Digital. Mauro says everything we know at this point is just speculation.
In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Thompson is seen walking along a sidewalk outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan early Wednesday morning when a masked man shoots him before fleeing the scene.
‘What we know so far is that he was very calm, he clearly knew the route. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a murder for hire. Those things happen. “I’m skeptical of the idea that this is a ‘professional shooter,'” Mauro said.
Mauro said what makes this case even more interesting is the type of weapon used.
“Now it looks like it has a really long barrel or a silencer. Mufflers are de facto illegal, and they are very, very difficult to obtain. Many of them are homemade. That said, it could just be a long-barreled rifle,” Mauro described.
“It appears the gun has to be shot after every shot. Unusual.”
He added that such weapons do exist, and they are designed to suppress noise, but there are also additional features that can be added to prevent the slide of a semi-automatic pistol from breaking.
What we know about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- Brian Thompson, the CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was shot Wednesday outside a luxury Midtown hotel in a “brazen, targeted attack,” police said.
- The methodical killer used a silenced firearm outside the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue.
- The gunman shot Thompson multiple times, hitting his back and right calf before fleeing on foot.
- The NYPD has released a new photo of the hooded suspect standing in front of the Starbucks counter at West 56th Street and 6th Avenue, just minutes from the Hilton hotel where he shot 50-year-old Thompson.
- Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Justice Department.
- Thompson’s wife, Paulette, said her husband had received threats before he was killed.
- The NYPD is investigating a possible message — which appears to include the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” — engraved on live rounds and shell casings left by the masked killer.
“That means that after you shoot, you have to move the slide of the gun to fire again. He does that in the video, claiming that he may have added and modified the gun because these are kind of aftermarket things that you can add to the gun,” Mauro said.
“So what I would say is, is anyone familiar with guns, and most importantly, this gun appears to be a rare type of gun. And that is a data point that police can pursue.”
Multiple law enforcement contacts told Fox News they believed the weapon used in the killing resembled a “Welrod,” a suppressed pistol first used in World War II.
“I would bet my pension that this is the weapon used against United’s CEO. It is very, very quiet and requires manual cycling after each round is fired. The best choice for professionals if you want to work up close and in silence,” the source told Fox News.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden also told Fox News Digital that the first item in terms of forensic pathology is determining whether the bullets passed through.
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“If the bullets are going in and out, they really need to look for the bullets at the scene and not wait until after the autopsy,” Baden said.
Baden said this was critical for investigators because the streets could be cleared by then, making it impossible for them to track where the bullets went and where they went.
He added that Thompson likely died so quickly because his lungs were injured, but that investigators will know more in the next 24 to 48 hours.
“They’ll know how many shots were fired, if shots went in and out, they’ll recover the bullets and get more information in addition to what they already have about the shell casings,” Baden said. “The unshot bullets are interesting, but irrelevant to the claim that it came from his gun – if they find the gun.”
The Hilton Hotel was hosting UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor meeting, and police said Thompson had been in town from Minnesota since Monday and was staying across the street.
Mauro believes that since Thompson had been there since Monday, the shooter would have had other opportunities to go after Thompson, but the convention appears to be the starting point.
New York City Crimestoppers is offering a combined reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment.
