Cops are probing whether the weapon used to kill United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was a “veterinary” gun commonly used to euthanize animals, an NYPD official said.
The murder weapon used in the assassination of Thompson “appears to be a larger handgun” similar to the style of a veterinary gun, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
“It’s a weapon commonly used on farms and ranches. If an animal has to get put down, the animal can be shot without causing a loud noise,” Kenny explained Friday.
The police official’s remarks were echoed by retired NYPD Captain John Monaghan, who called the gun a “unique weapon” during an interview with CNN on Saturday.
“When he fires that shot, the next thing that happens is not him trying to fire a second shot and having the gun jam – that’s not what occurs,” Monaghan said while surveillance video of the slaying played on the screen.
“He fires a shot and he racks the slide, then he fires a second time, then he racks the slide. Then the gun jams, and you see him racking to clear it.”
“So that gun is built to be racked after every shot. It’s a very unique weapon. The length of the barrel in that video right there tells us it most probably is a veterinary pistol,” Monaghan told CNN hosts Kaitlan Collins and Mark Morales.
Former NYPD Lieutenant Darrin Porcher, who also appeared on the program, noted that the gun appears to be nine millimeters long.
Thompson, 50, was gunned down at 6:44 a.m. as he was approaching an investor event at the Hilton Midtown without any security detail.
The manhunt for the killer is in its fourth day.
