Dec 08, 2024 04:24 PM IST
In a bizarre twist after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder, a shooter look-a-like contest unfolded in New York.
In a shocking reaction to the daylight murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, several New York residents participated in a shooter look-a-like contest even as a manhunt is on for the real killer.
Thompson was gunned down outside the luxury Hilton Hotel in New York on Thursday morning by a hooded and masked gunman who fired multiple shots at the CEO and then fled the scene on a bike. The chilling murder was caught on a CCTV camera outside the hotel.
A total of eight people contested in the look-alike competition. They all arrived wearing hooded outerwear and face masks were surrounded and were quickly surrounded by dozens of onlookers, whose cheers were counted as votes.
One of the contestants, fired off a bubble gun which had “Deny, Defend, Depose” written on it — the three words were scribbled on the bullet casings by the gunman.
The winner of the contest was a man in a green jacket and masked face who looked like a doppelganger for the cold-blooded assassin. “I got no looks until I got over here and now everyone wants a picture with me,” he told The New York Post.
Take a look at the video here:
However, the “shooter”, who won $50 for his killer looks, said that he didn’t have to dress up for the event as this was what he wore everyday.
He said he’s had his own issues with health insurance companies covering some of his medications. “People do not feel great about the current state of things in our world,” he explained the unsympathetic response to the CEO’s shocking killing. (Also read: Brian Thompson’s killer could be ‘disgruntled’ employee or client, says NYPD)
Where is the real killer?
After the cold-blooded murder, the assassin sped through Central Park on a bike and left the city on a bus, police said. New York Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that police have identified the shooter. “The net is tightening,” he said.
Police have also shared photos from surveillance cameras showing the shooter pull down his mask to flirt with a woman working at the desk of a youth hostel where he is believed to have stayed.