Police find bullet casings inscribed with cryptic words in Midtown CEO's shooting death

Cryptic words were scrawled on shell casings recovered at the Midtown scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed on Wednesday, NYPD officials confirmed on Thursday morning.

The shooting took place outside a Midtown Hilton hotel where Thompson had planned to attend an investor conference. Police officials said they executed a search warrant at another nearby hotel where Thompson was staying. Police also said they were visiting hostels on the Upper East and Upper West Sides as part of their investigation.

The police officials did not say how many shell casings the NYPD recovered, but confirmed reports that they included the terms “deny,” “defend” and “depose.” Police couldn't provide any more details on what was written.

The words on the bullet casings could provide some insight into the motive of the shooter, who officials said carried out a targeted, premeditated attack against the 50-year-old executive outside the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel on Sixth Avenue, where UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference was due to be held on Wednesday.

Several online forum users noted the similarity to the name of the 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It,” by Jay M. Feinman.

At the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side on Thursday morning, guests said police had come by earlier to investigate, though the guests didn’t know what the officers were looking into at the time.

“They were all going up to the fourth floor. They were quite chill,” said Alice Brooks, who was visiting from the United Kingdom. “We didn’t really think anything of it, to be honest.”

An NYPD flier posted on a street pole outside the hostel advertised an up to $10,000 reward for information that could lead to the suspect's arrest.

Police on Thursday also released new images of a man they said was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. They were first images to show the man without a mask. Police did not immediately say when or where those images were captured.

Police had yet to arrest or charge a suspect as of Thursday morning. Police said the shooter was last seen on Wednesday morning riding an e-bike in Central Park, and added that they were scrutinizing surveillance video in the area and using dozens of drones to try to track his movements.

This is a developing story based on preliminary police information and has been updated.