The evidence so far in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson points to his being murdered by a hired killer, former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernie Kerik told Newsmax.
When asked if he thinks the killing was the result of a murder-for-hire, Kerik told Thursday's "Wake Up America": "Yes, I do, based on what we know right now, based on the reports, based on the police department's findings, what they've seen so far.
"When you watch this guy, you know, one, he had a suppressor or a silencer on the weapon," Kerik added. "He had a couple of jams during the during the shots that he cleared proficiently. So [he was] somebody quite familiar with the weapon."
Further, Thompson, who was shot to death early Wednesday in midtown Manhattan while in town to speak at a conference, was shot to death by a killer who "scoped this all out in advance," Kerik said.
Thompson's killer has not yet been caught, but Kerik said he believes the police will find him "in due time, sooner than later."
"The problem for him is New York City is saturated by technology, by cameras, especially in the midtown Times Square area, which gave the police department the ability to sort of monitor him until he got into [Central] Park," Kerik said. "I think they may know some other things that we don't know … the biggest issue right now is to determine who he is and why."
Police have published several photos of the suspect taken from video cameras around the scene of the crime. One shows the shooter with the gun raised and pointed at Thompson and another shows him fleeing on an electric bike.
Other photos show the shooter's eyes, brow, and the bridge of his nose, with the rest of his face covered, reports said.
The video footage will be a "major part" of the investigation, Kerik said.
"I think people don't realize the Times Square area, you know, midtown Manhattan, is saturated with cameras, almost like a casino," he said. "You don't have more than six feet of property that's not surveilled in some capacity, whether it's the police department's technology or whether it's the Business Improvement District's technology that is also fed into the NYPD when needed. This stuff, you know, it will be extremely helpful."
Meanwhile, Kerik said he has seen similar killings, "not often, but yes, it does happen."
"It used to happen back in the organized crime days, the mafia days," he said. "In a situation like this, an executive, a CEO of a major company in the United States, not necessarily, but that's why I said it's going to be interesting to see the why here. Where did it come from?"
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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