PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More than 400 tips were forwarded to the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline during the five-day search for a masked gunman who ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.

NYPD officials said about 30 of those tips were useful as information about the shooter’s movements before and after the Dec. 4 shooting. But it wasn’t until an emergency call came in from a McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday that police set their sights on their suspect.

Up to $60,000 in rewards from the FBI and the Crime Stoppers program were offered to anyone who submitted a tip that led to a break in the case. But although police and prosecutors moved quickly to arrest and charge 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, it may take significantly longer for the rewards to be released, and they could be after taxes and taking into account the role the tips played , be less than the total amount.

Exactly who will receive a reward or a share of it is still being determined, officials said. In fact, the federal and local reward programs operate under different rules, but both have built-in flexibility to offer multiple rewards of varying amounts depending on the outcome of those tips.

How does someone become eligible for a reward?

The FBI reward program, which offered a reward of up to $50,000 in this case, requires that a tip or information leads to an arrest and conviction.

Phone calls and emails to the FBI press office seeking details about how each reward program works were not returned, but websites for various rewards offered by the agency describe similar processes. A person who provides a tip must be named, usually by a federal investigative agency. A panel then reviews the tip and its role in the investigation and decides whether to award the full amount.

For the NYPD Crime Stoppers Award, funded by the New York City Police Foundation and the NYPD’s Detective Bureau, the hotline typically offers up to $3,500 for information leading to an arrest and indictment. The Detective Bureau has increased that amount to $10,000 in this case, and a conviction is required for that portion.

“The public’s help is critical to solving crimes and keeping our communities safe,” the Police Foundation board said in a statement Wednesday. “The person in Pennsylvania who gave a tip is entitled to the reward.”

The McDonald’s employee called 911, which recorded a number and usually a name. A tipster who calls the Crime Stoppers hotline remains anonymous. The program promises to never trace cell phone numbers or record information about callers, but instead give them a unique identification number that they can use to check the status of the case and the possibility of a reward.

NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny will assess which tip or tips were instrumental in solving the case when determining how to distribute the Detective Bureau’s reward funds, police officials said Wednesday.

When can money be paid out?

Most rewards require belief. Given the nature of the murder charge and the variety of jurisdictions involved, it could take a year or longer to reach a trial.

For Crime Stoppers’ $3,500, the board could decide to issue a reward after the prosecution is complete. Both the FBI and Crime Stoppers have panels that review leads, talk to detectives or other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, and determine which leads played a significant role in the case. The boards have some leeway in deciding the amounts each tipper would earn.

The Crime Stoppers Board has the option to split a reward across multiple tips or to consider the maximum amount on a case-by-case basis.

NYPD officials did not provide details on how any of the 30 tips helped the case, but it is unlikely that each tipster would receive the highest amount offered.

How was money allocated in the past?

The Police Foundation and the FBI do not discuss individual cases or disclose how much money was awarded to individual tipsters.

For some programs, such as the Rewards for Justice program, the FBI notes that it has awarded millions of dollars over the past two decades. In this program, the FBI sometimes discloses the amount of the reward but does not identify the tipsters. In most cases, the agency submits a confidential report to Congress detailing tips and rewards.

The same principles apply to Crime Stoppers. The program does not release details to protect the anonymity promised to tipsters. Its website touts notable cases where the tips helped solve cases, including a mass shooting in April 2022 where tips helped lead officers to the arrest and eventual guilty plea of ​​Frank James.

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Associated Press reporter Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this story.