NEW YORK: New York’s mayor insisted the hunt for the man believed to have gunned down a top health insurance executive was “on the right track” as the investigation dragged into a third day on Friday.

Investigators secured a breakthrough on Thurs­day when they released the first full-face picture of a suspect without a covering like that worn during Wednesday’s brazen daylight slaying.

“This person was fully masked, and we used good old-fashioned police work to come up with the picture you have,” mayor Eric Adams told the Spectrum broadcaster.

The image of the smiling suspect was obtained from a youth hostel where the gunman apparently stayed before the hit, detectives said, with media speculating he lowered his mask to flirt with a receptionist.

The gunman sprayed Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare—one of the country’s largest medical insurers, with bullets in front of bystanders, in an audacious hit captured by a surveillance camera and now seen by millions.

Thompson was attending an investor conference in the Midtown business district.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024