A chilling photo shows a suspected gunman grinning widely days before he calmly executed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel Wednesday.
The photo – the first to show the alleged masked assassin’s face – was released by the NYPD Thursday as a desperate manhunt for the cold-blooded killer led authorities to an Upper West Side youth hostel, where they believe he stayed before the shocking killing.
NYPD officers and FBI agents searched the hostel on Amsterdam Avenue after video captured the suspect in the area Wednesday around 5 a.m., about an hour before he’s believed to have fired repeatedly at Thompson, 50, as the CEO walked up to the Sixth Avenue luxury hotel, sources said.
The search and potential link to the slaying rattled residents of the HI New York City Hostel, such as Ignacio Heck, a 31-year-old software engineer from Chile, who didn’t know he may crossed paths with a killer until he spoke with The Post Thursday.
“Oh damn!” he said. “Of course I’m scared but at least the police were here. It’s a safe place and I’m leaving tomorrow.”
The suspect checked into the hostel on Nov. 30 using a fake New Jersey ID, sources told The Post.
