Brian Thompson shooting live updates: First picture of healthcare CEO’s smirking assassin without his mask – as cops make major breakthrough

The NYPD has released a clear image of the assassin who shot Thompson.

The killer, who has not been identified, was seen smiling widely in the image. The NYPD did not say

Police have searched a hostel in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan where they believe the suspect had been staying.

Sources told CNN on Thursday morning that detectives obtained a search warrant for a property in the city.

NY1 reporter Ben Feurerherd said Thursday that a worker at the Kama Central Park Hostel was interviewed by uniformed police around 7am, and ‘showed him a photo of a hooded man with a backpack and asked if he recognized the person.’

‘He said no, and the cops left after about 2 mins,’ Feuerherd tweeted.

Insiders also told ABC News that the suspect was seen outside the Frederick Douglass Houses, a public housign project also in the Upper West Side, a 5am on the morning of the shooting.

With cops saying they are closing in on the killer, it comes as the force previously released a slate of surveillance images alongside a $10,000 reward.

Chilling footage revealed the assassin who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was on the phone to someone minutes before he opened fire.

The gunman was seen on surveillance footage loitering around Manhattan’s Hilton Hotel at 6:30am on the phone, around 175 feet from where he killed Thompson at 6:45am Wednesday.

He was also spotted standing by a counter at a nearby Starbucks and buying snacks while dressed in all black with his face mostly obscured by a balaclava ahead of the shooting.

A former FBI chief has revealed to DailyMail.com he does not believe that Brian Thompson’s assassin was a hitman, but maintained that he was clearly a ‘proficient’ marksman.

Robert D’Amico said the UnitedHeathcare CEO’s killer made some crucial errors which mark him out as an amateur, including a visiting a nearby Starbucks prior to the slaying.

The shooter approached Thompson from behind and fired several shots using a handgun equipped with a silencer. He then fled the scene on an eBike and remains at large.

D’Amico said the assassin likely shed the clothes he was filmed wearing shortly after the killing and may already have committed suicide.

But the expert also speculated that the success of the execution and subsequent escape may have emboldened him into thinking that he can get away from the crime.

D’Amico told DailyMail.com he believes a ‘suicide by cop’ where the killer would deliberately provoke police to kill him if caught is unlikely.

He said the tactic is more common among school shooters who want to go out in a blaze of glory and that Thompson’s assassin has not displayed signs of egotism.

NYPD sources revealed that detectives have obtained a usable image of the suspect’s face without a mask.

Cops previously released a series of images showing the suspect around Midtown Mnahattan before the slaying, however his face was obscured by a balaclava.

Detectives have not released the latest image of the suspect’s face.

Chilling footage captured the moment the gunman rode a bicycle through the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday morning after assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Detectives zeroed in on the path they believe the killer took when he fled the scene.

Officers had originally thought that the assailant fled on an electric Citi Bike near the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan.

But by early afternoon, spokesperson for the bike share operator Lyft said that police officials had informed them that it was not from their fleet.

Thompson was separated from his wife when he was shot dead outside Manhattan’s Hilton Hotel on Wednesday morning, it has been revealed.

The father-of-two, 50, was estranged from wife Paulette and the couple had been living in separate homes less than a mile apart in Maple Grove, Minnesota, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Thompson purchased the $1million home near his family home in 2018, according to public records, with neighbors telling the Journal that he spent much of his time traveling.

His wife Paulette, a practicing physical therapist, admitted in her first reaction after hearing of her husband’s death that he had been receiving threats.

She referenced a ‘lack of coverage.’ Despite the reported, threats,

New surveillance footage of the suspect reveals he exited a subway station nearby to the shooting, as cops continue to map out his movements.

The killer was seen in a new image first shared by the Washington Post emerging from the 57th Street F train station at 6:15am Wednesday.

Detectives say the killer then walked to a Starbucks around 100 feet away, and released images showing the suspect ordering at a counter with his face obscured by a balaclava.

The suspect lay in wait outside the Hilton until 6:46am, until he saw Thompson walk in front of the lobby.

Detectives with the NYPD revealed late on Wednesday that the assassin who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson left bullet casings reading ‘depose’, ‘deny’ and ‘defend.’

The cryptic words resemble the title of 2010 book ‘Delay, Deny, Defend’ by author Jay M. Feinman, which details ‘why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about itt.

With the search for the killer ongoing, the message has left it to cops to determine if they could hint at a motive for the slaying of the CEO.