Brian Thompson killing: Man found with gun, silencer and fake ID being questioned over shooting of US healthcare boss in New York

A man is being questioned in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC News.

Customers in a branch of McDonald’s in central Pennsylvania thought the man was “suspicious” and called police, NBC said, quoting three senior law enforcement officials.

When officers arrived, they found the man had a fake ID, and he was taken to a police station for questioning, two senior law enforcement officials told the network.

Once there, they discovered he had a gun similar to the one used in the killing of Brian Thompson, a silencer, and a fake New Jersey ID, the two sources said.

The suspect is being questioned in Altoona, around 100 miles east of Pittsburgh, according to sources, NBC said.

Mr Thompson was shot dead by a masked gunman outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday morning, while he was on the way to the company’s annual conference.

Footage showed the attacker walking up slowly behind Mr Thompson and opening fire outside the Hilton hotel in what New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described as a “premeditated, preplanned targeted attack”.

Shell casings found at the scene where the executive was killed had “deny,” “delay” and “depose” written on them.

The shooting sparked a citywide manhunt, with detectives tracking the suspect to Central Park where they found a backpack they believe he used.

Bank notes from the Monopoly board game were discovered in the bag, as well as a jacket which may have been worn by the gunman, NBC said on Sunday, quoting sources.

The man took a taxi to a bus station from where he could travel to New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington DC, New York’s chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, said on Sunday.

New CCTV has emerged showing a suspect coming out of a nearby subway station. It is said to have been filmed at 6.15am – about half an hour before the shooting on Wednesday.

In the video clip, taken from cigar shop Davidoff of Geneva on Sixth Avenue, the man can be seen walking up some stairs to street level.

It’s about three minutes’ walk from where Mr Thompson was killed, outside his company’s annual investor meeting at a hotel near Radio City Music Hall and the Rockefeller Centre in midtown Manhattan.

The gunman travelled to the city by bus from Atlanta, and investigators are searching for video from that bus station and others along the Greyhound Bus route, three sources close to the investigation told NBC.