The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan has prompted internet sleuths to conduct their own investigation to find the killer and his motive after the suspect appeared to disappear from one of the most monitored cities in the United States

Online, amateur detectives and true crime fans have pored over photos of a person of interest released by police – one showing a smiling, unmasked man in a hoodie seen in the lobby of a hostel where the suspect had previously stayed – and have Zoomed in on footage from a surveillance camera.

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“The guy had a silencer, which is extremely hard to get, especially in a state like New York,” one person said on Reddit.

Others theorize what type of person would flee the crime scene on what police say is an unmarked e-bike and what the suspect’s purchase says about him.

“Water and protein bars imply that he cares about his health to some degree,” another Reddit user posited. “What kind of crazy person would choose a water and protein bar as their last meal?”

As the police investigation entered its third day, there was no indication that authorities had found the shooter or given him a name. Police said they believe the suspect fled New York City on a bus.

The New York Police Department said the evidence suggested the attack was premeditated. The bullet casings found at the scene were engraved with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” – tactics used by insurers to deny claims and described in a 2010 industry-critical book entitled Delay, deny, defend. As police investigate whether the words suggest a motive, investigators also believe the attacker was motivated by anger at the insurance industry.

Police have asked the public for help in the investigation and have left the hotline open, as is standard practice in manhunts.

“The public is important when it comes to assisting police in these types of investigations,” David Sarni, a retired NYPD detective and associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, told NPR on Thursday. “People said, ‘Oh no, I talked to him yesterday.’ These are things you look at. And that’s what you hope these tips will provide – another piece of the puzzle to solving the problem and catching the person who did this.”

In previous high-profile cases, online detectives have successfully tracked down suspects who eluded authorities. They helped identify what are believed to be hundreds of rioters involved in the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and their tips led to some arrests.

“The public can essentially be a force multiplier for police,” said Wayne Logan, a professor at Florida State University College of Law in Tallahassee who has written about the role of crowdsourcing in criminal investigations. “The police have limited resources, and more eyes on a problem, more minds on a problem can obviously give the police an advantage.”

Internet detective work also has its pitfalls. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing is a famous example of online investigators getting it wrong. The New York Post published a front-page article with photos of two people – suggesting they were responsible for the attack – who incorrectly identified Gumshoes as the suspected attackers. Another person identified through crowdsourcing turned out to be a missing college student who committed suicide before the bombings, and the blame threatened his grieving family.

“There could be people who act with improper motives and identify a person … and their name and reputation is tarnished if they are not involved at all,” Logan said.

According to the law professor, if dubious leads are included in the flood of tips submitted to authorities, it could result in the limited police resources devoted to verifying the information being wasted.

In the case of Thompson’s death, there was a counter-attempt to the amateur search for facts. Some on social media responded to news of the manager’s killing by railing against the health care industry, praising the shooter’s actions and even denigrating those who are assisting police in their investigation.

But Christian Quinn, a former deputy chief of cyber and forensics at the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, said so The Washington Post that he suspected that investigators were “not really concerned by online chatter from…people with opinions who don’t really have the necessary expertise.” But sometimes, he added, “you get that one little tidbit” that turns the investigation around.

Still, Logan, the FSU professor, said it’s important not to underestimate the power of the internet mob.

“Anything is possible with the Internet, you know?” he said. “The fundamental concern is that the wisdom of the crowd does not become the tyranny of the crowd, where criminal investigations are essentially driven by crowdsourcing and crowds rather than more careful, systematic investigative work by police.”