New York police have released two new pictures of a person it says is wanted for questioning in connection with yesterday's shooting.

The individual is wearing dark clothing, but does not have their face covered in these latest images.

In a post on X, external, the NYPD said the photos are of "a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide on Dec. 4."

"This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premediated, targeted attack."

We reported earlier that facial recognition technology is being used to try to identify the person seen in CCTV images.

Image source, NYPD

Image source, NYPD

Earlier on we reported that New York police were seeking a search warrant for a building in upper west Manhattan.

Now, in an update, CBS says that the search occurred on Wednesday night, according to NYPD officials.

CBS also confirms that the building police searched was near the Frederick Douglas housing project on Columbus Avenue, as reported earlier.

CBS says that there is surveillance footage showing the suspect outside of the building at 0500 local time on Wednesday. But, the BBC's US partner adds that it is unclear whether it is different to another video that shows the suspect entering the building wearing a grey backpack.

As we reported earlier, police confirmed there were words on three shell casings found at the scene of the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson.

The BBC's US partner CBS News is now reporting that the words - "deny", "defend" and "depose" - were meticulously written, not etched, onto the casings, according to a source briefed on the investigation.

Police are hoping to search a building where they believe the suspect was staying overnight before the attack, the New York Police Department has told the BBC's US partner CBS.

According to CBS, NYPD officials have obtained CCTV footage of the suspect in front of the Frederick Douglas Housing Project on Columbus Avenue at 05:00 local time on Wednesday morning. This is on the upper west side of Manhattan.

CBS says that New York police are "seeking a search warrant for a building in that area", where they believe the suspect was staying overnight before carrying out the killing.

We'll bring you more updates on the search for the suspect as we get them.

Image source, UnitedHealth

Brian Thompson was the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest private insurer in the US.

He first joined the company in 2004 as director of corporate development and rose through the ranks to become the head of the company in April 2021.

He earned $10.2m (£8m) working for the company last year, up from $9.8m in 2022 and $9.6m in 2021.

Thompson graduated from the University of Iowa in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting.

Before joining UnitedHealthcare, Thompson worked at PwC.

The 50-year-old was married to Paulette Thompson, had two sons and lived in Maple Grove, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

• Read more about Thompson's background including allegations of insider trading

Gunman appears to have used a silencer, says weapons expertpublished at 14:25 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December

14:25 GMT 5 December

By Thomas Spencer

CCTV footage of the shooting appears to show the gunman had fitted a suppressor, also known as a silencer, to his pistol. The attachment is designed to quieten the noise and reduce flash as shots are fired.

The US restricted the sale of suppressors in the 1930s under the provisions of the National Firearms Act. These restrictions were brought in largely as a result of concerns that such weapons were being used to commit crimes.

Image source, Reuters

Weapons expert N.R. Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services (ARES), says this “would be one of the very few cases in which a suppressor is actually used in a crime."

By the way the gunman manually re-cocks his weapon after each shot, he says it appears that he “anticipated the weapon would fail to function as normal, possibly due to the use of subsonic ammunition in combination with a suppressor”.

Subsonic ammunition travels below the speed of sound, which means it is quieter as it doesn’t create a loud crack as it breaks the sound barrier.

Jenzen-Jones says it appears that the gunman deliberately chose this combination to make the shooting “as quiet as possible” suggesting a level of pre-meditation in planning the attack.

Image source, UnitedHealth

Police are yet to establish a motive in the fatal shooting of healthcare executive Brian Thompson but did say the suspect fled without taking any of Thompson's belongings.

In the hours after the attack, Thompson's wife told US media that there had "been some threats" against her husband earlier, but she didn't provide details.

"I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him," she told MSNBC.

Police also said there had been one suspicious incident at Thompson's home in Maple Grove, Minnesota in 2018, but that matter was cleared with no criminal activity detected.

Image source, Reuters

As police scour evidence and footage for clues on the identity of the gunman, let's take a closer look at the timeline of events on Wednesday morning in New York that led to the death of healthcare executive Brian Thompson.

• At 06:39 local time (11:39 GMT), police say the gunman arrived at the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on foot
• At 06:44 (11:44 GMT), Thompson walks from his hotel across the street to the Hilton to address investors
• By 06:46 (11:46 GMT), police say the gunman had shot Thompson twice from behind and ran towards a bike docked on 55th Street, which he rode off toward Central Park
• At 06:48 (11:48 GMT), the suspect is seen on camera riding an e-bike on Center Drive in the park
• Just before 07:00 (12:00 GMT), the gunman is seen on video cycling out of the park on West 85th Street
• At 07:12 (12:12 GMT), Thompson was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West Hospital

How could facial recognition be used to identify suspect?published at 13:25 Greenwich Mean Time 5 December

13:25 GMT 5 December

Image source, NYPD

By Paul Myers

CCTV imagery of the suspect in the New York City shooting reveals only partial glimpses of his face. So what can facial recognition software tell us in such cases?

Biometric facial search engines work by analysing a suspect’s face and looking through a huge database of online photographs to see if any show a similar looking person.

For this kind of search to succeed, the source photo needs to clearly show the face of the suspect, allowing the tool to measure a pattern of features like their hairline, eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

BBC Verify has used two commercially available facial search tools to test photos released by the New York Police Department. However, they do not show enough of the suspect’s face to enable us to carry out a search.

Law enforcement bodies have access to a wider range of sophisticated search tools and more databases to cross-reference, which may lead them to further clues as to the killer’s identity.

Earlier, we mentioned that US media said police have found three shell casings with words on them.

Our US partner CBS News has just confirmed with law enforcement officials that the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" were written on the shell casings recovered at the scene of the attack.

Officials say they are examining whether the words point to a motive related to insurance companies' responses to claims.

That the words were written on the shell casings, according to officials, was first reported by ABC News.

As we've been reporting, the suspect fled the scene on foot and was last seen riding what is thought to be an e-bike through Central Park, which is a few blocks north of the scene of the shooting.

In our coverage yesterday, we reported comments from the NYPD who said said the suspect used an electric Citi Bike to flee the scene.

But Lyft, the company which owns and operates Citi Bike, later said it had been told by the NYPD that one of its vehicles had not been used, according to the BBC's US partner, CBS News.

The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning, local time, turned the entrance of the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan into a crime scene.

As you can see, yellow police tape was used to cordon off the scene of the shooting with numbered cards marking items of evidence as members of the NYPD crime scene unit investigate.

The words "deny," "defend" and "depose" were discovered on bullet casings, police sources told ABC News.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, NYPD

There is little detail about the suspect who shot dead Brian Thompson, with police focusing on a handful of clues in a bid to identify him.

Here's what we know so far:

• He visited a Starbucks a few minutes for the attack, wearing a black facemask and a grey backpack
• Police say the mask was pulled down low enough that his eyes and part of his nose can be seen
• Police are using facial recognition software to try to find a match
• The suspect fled the scene on foot and was last spotted on what's thought to be an e-bike in Central Park
• Police are testing three bullet casings - which had the words "deny", "defend" and "depose" on them - and three live rounds found at the scene for DNA, according to US media
• A mobile phone was discovered in an alley along the suspect's escape route which police say they are "working through"

Image source, NYPD News

The shooting took place at about 06:45 EST (11:45 GMT) on Wednesday morning in a busy part of Manhattan close to Times Square and Central Park.

The gunman, wearing a black facemask, appeared to have waited for healthcare executive Brian Thompson for five minutes outside the Hilton hotel in New York.

Thompson was due to speak at an investor conference later in the day at the venue.

The suspect shot Thompson in the back and leg before fleeing the scene.

Thompson was rushed to a local hospital but shortly after was pronounced dead.

Image source, EPA

Welcome back to our live coverage as authorities are hunting for a man who shot dead the chief executive of US insurance company UnitedHealthcare on Wednesday morning, local time.

Police have described the attack on Brian Thompson, 50, as “brazen and targeted” after he was shot in the back outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

The attacker fled the scene without taking any of Thompson's belongings.

Police say they are now using facial recognition technology and a discarded cell phone to identify and track down the killer.

We'll be bringing you the latest updates as we get them so stay with us.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York

Image source, NYPD

Manhattan is the most densely populated of New York City's five boroughs, and it's an island with security cameras nearly everywhere you look.

But before sunrise on a cold winter morning, a gunman shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Hilton hotel in area known for tourism. The killer calmly walked away, and seemingly vanished.

The suspect was last seen riding an electric bike through Central Park, not long after the brazen attack.

Police say he appeared to have been lying in wait for Thompson, that this was a targeted attack.

Investigators have found some evidence, including bullet casings from the crime scene. A security camera at a nearby Starbucks shows the suspect buying something minutes before the attack took place.

But the gunman's motive is unknown. Their identity is still a mystery.

We are pausing this live coverage for now, but will be back if there are any major updates.

In the meantime, you can read more about healthcare CEO Brian Thompson here.

It's been about 14 hours since the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the manhunt for the suspect is still under way.

Here's a brief rundown of what has happened today:

• Brian Thompson, the head of US insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in New York City about 06:45 local time. The shooting took place outside the Hilton Hotel on Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue, only a few blocks from Times Square
• The New York Police Department says the attack was “targeted” and the gunman appeared to have waited for Thompson to appear
• The suspect was seen on security camera footage wearing a grey backpack and a black hooded jacket
• Video shows him fleeing the scene on foot. He was last spotted in Central Park on an electric bicycle
• The suspect was filmed on security cameras at a Starbucks minutes before deadly shooting

Several of Brian Thompson's co-workers at UnitedHealth took to social media to express their condolences after his death.

"This devastating news has sent shockwaves through my body and undoubtedly through the entire community, leaving us with so many unanswered questions," Antonio Toft posted on LinkedIn. Toft is a vice president at UnitedHealth Group.

Toft, who describes in the post that he worked closely with Thompson on the executive team, said most of his colleagues refer to Thompson as "BT".

"He was not only a remarkable leader but also a cherished friend and mentor to many of us," he wrote. "His contributions and dedication to our organization and the broader healthcare community have been immeasurable."

Monica Lyn, from Virginia, expressed her condolences in a Facebook post to the family "of our UHC CEO". She posted several photos of Thompson, one featuring her taking a selfie with the healthcare CEO.

"He was such a humble person when we met and will truly be missed," she wrote.

The New York Hilton Midtown, where Thompson was shot, has been the scene of many significant moments in US history.

• The first handheld cell phone call was made by a guest of the hotel in 1973.
• President-elect Donald Trump delivered his victory speech from this hotel in 2016.
• The hotel claims to be the location where John Lennon wrote the lyrics to "Imagine".
• The Hilton Midtown has housed several famous guests, from presidents to the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

This morning, the CEO of America's largest private health insurer was killed in a shooting outside a hotel in Manhattan, just a few blocks from Times Square.

As police search for the suspect, they're asking New Yorkers to remain vigilant, and to share any information they might have.