In the US, police are asking so-called internet detectives to help identify the man who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, on December 4.
This was reported by The Washington Post on December 5.
WP writes that Internet detectives are competing in attempts to identify the shooter. They are also trying to outrun the police in the high-profile hunt for the criminal.
In particular, the unknown shooter was captured on surveillance cameras. Currently, the online community of«detectives» is studying street records and digital data to determine the brand of his backpack, gun and bicycle on which he escaped.
According to journalists, another so-called online movement has the opposite beliefs: it is about users who idealize the shooter. They claim that the murder was an act of rage against the insurance business. They also spread memes calling the attacker a folk hero and urging internet detectives not to look for him.
As adds WP, the police have not yet named a motive for Thompson's murder. However, found shell casings were labeled with the words: «deny», «defend» and «eliminate». These tactics that insurers use to reduce liability or reject claims. Some Americans believe that the attack could have been motivated by anger at the insurance business.
The Reuters adds that so-called Internet detectives in the US often analyze public data to find information after high-profile crimes. Sometimes they succeed: for example, online investigators helped law enforcement identify numerous participants in the riots at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, following Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
On the American website Reddit, users suggested that the killer's weapon could have been a Station 6 pistol or an exotic firearm called the B&T VP9. Others focused on the backpack, calling it the Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L, Camera Bag.
On the social network X, some users tried to find clues through the Citi Bike bicycle rental system in New York. However, police later said that the perpetrator was using an unregistered electric bike, not a Citi Bike.
Also on December 5, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer posted a 26-minute video on the X platform, sharing her thoughts on the murder. She noted that the killer knew exactly where and when Thompson would be.
«That«tells me that someone probably had inside information, someone knew when he was going to come out», — she said.
On December 4, American media reported that in downtown Manhattan in New York, an unknown person shot and killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, 50-year-old Brian Thompson. It was noted that UnitedHealthcare is one of the largest American companies dealing with health insurance.
Thompson was killed as he walked to the Hilton Hotel to attend UnitedHealthcare's annual investor conference.
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