Day 4 and no arrests: Why New York police have a hard time finding UnitedHealthcare CEO killer

A man in a hoodie kills a high-profile CEO outside a busy New York hotel, a city almost entirely covered in surveillance cameras, and manages to slip neatly through the fingers of the city’s cops — leaving them scratching their heads.
killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson US officials in America’s largest city believe the shooter could be anywhere but New York.
Even as the New York police begin their hunt for the mysterious killer, the density of digital footage has overwhelmed the cops, who now have to scrub through virtually every nook and cranny of the killer before and after he commits the murder.
Police believe the suspect arrived in New York City 10 days before the killing — on Nov. 24, a law enforcement official told CNN.
Police are revisiting countless hours of video footage in hopes of finding more clues that could help them catch the shooter.
Throughout his stay, the man appeared on camera several times, however, he always kept a hood over his head and wore a mask in public.
“While the gunman had meticulously planned many parts of his crime and escape, one might wonder how far the NYPD would go in gathering video,” former NYPD Chief of Division Kenneth Corey told CNN.
“And they’re not just going to take him from the crime scene on his escape route. They’re actually going to rewind now, and they’re going to try to account for all 10 days he spent in New York City. And I don’t think he expects that. is,” Corey added.

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Why the delay?

The only photo the police have of the suspect with his mask on is not enough as experts believe”Facial recognition software does not always connect the suspect’s face and identity.”
“Most Americans may believe that law enforcement has images on everyone in the United States. That’s simply not true. If he’s not a New York resident who hasn’t been arrested before, odds are he won’t. Their criminal database or in their mugshot repository,” IDEMIA Group CEO Donnie Scott told CNN.
Scott said: “So what’s happening in all law enforcement is they’re looking for this image in their local systems to see if this criminal exists in their galleries.

Why can’t a driver’s license help?

In response to questions about why police can’t cross-check the killer’s face with a Department of Motor Vehicle driver’s license photo, Scott explained to CNN that “that’s a legal permitting process. New York State doesn’t have access to that. For law enforcement purposes by statute.” The DMV database,” Scott said, “requires cooperation and sharing of information and the reason and willingness of relevant agencies to share it as permitted by law.”

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Will DNA help narrow down the investigation?

Investigators obtained possible DNA evidence from an abandoned cell phone and from a water bottle they believe the suspect may have sipped from. A senior law enforcement official told CNN that potential DNA evidence was turned over to a lab for testing.
However, the presence of DNA data may not be sufficient to identify a suspect.
“If they’re able to pull DNA … but there’s no match to that DNA (sample), it’s going to be very difficult,” “America’s Most Wanted” co-host Callahan Walsh told CNN.
“They can bring in family DNA, but it takes a little longer to process,” Walsh said. “There must also be a match in the database somewhere among his family members.”

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