The masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies on a Manhattan sidewalk used ammunition emblazoned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” a law enforcement official said Thursday. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel in Midtown, blocks from tourist draws like Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art. The words on the ammunition may have been a reference to strategies insurance companies use to try to avoid paying claims.

Jurors asked Wednesday to review police and bystander video at the heart of the chokehold manslaughter case against Daniel Penny as his lawyers complained that an aggressive protester was harassing the Marine veteran outside the New York City courthouse. Within about an hour of starting a second day of deliberations, the anonymous jury sought a second look at videos captured by the body cameras of officers who responded to the subway car where Penny grabbed hold of Jordan Neely, an agitated man whose behavior and words were frightening passengers. Jurors also wanted to revisit video shot by a Mexican journalist who was on the train that depicts much of the roughly six-minute restraint, and police video of Penny’s station house interview with detectives.

UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was shot and killed Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive dragnet hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby. Brian Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45 a.m. as he walked alone to the New York Hilton Midtown from a nearby hotel, police said. The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Police had not yet established a motive.

New Jersey interim Sen. George Helmy, a Democrat appointed when Bob Menendez resigned after a federal corruption conviction, is stepping down this weekend so Sen.-elect Andy Kim can be sworn in early. The move was expected and confirmed what Helmy and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced during his appointment this summer — that Helmy would resign early so the winner of November’s election could get into office before the start of the new session of Congress next month. Murphy explained the arrangement, saying he wanted the “democratically chosen winner” of this year’s election to have a smooth transition into office. Kim defeated Republican businessman Curtis Bashaw on Election Day. He’ll become the first Korean-American in the Senate when he is sworn in on Monday.

President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge Monday to throw out his hush money criminal conviction, arguing that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency.“ In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that anything short of immediate dismissal would undermine the transition of power, as well as the “overwhelming national mandate” granted to Trump by voters last month. They also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges. “President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ and ‘treated differently,’” Trump’s legal team wrote.

A New York City mayoral staffer has been indefinitely suspended without pay following the release of a video showing her tearing down a poster meant to raise awareness for hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel. The staffer, 25-year-old Nallah Sutherland, serves as a coordinator in the Mayor’s Office of Special Projects and Community Events, a role ironically aimed at bridging cultural divides and promoting New York City’s diversity. The incident occurred on November 2 at the corner of York Avenue and East 84th Street, where Sutherland was filmed ripping down the poster and striking the phone of the person recording the video.

Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday a shift in his stance on deporting migrants, expressing openness to deport those charged with crimes from New York City before convictions are secured. This marks a departure from his earlier position of waiting for legal outcomes before deporting immigrants involved in criminal activity. Adams revealed plans to meet with Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump’s newly appointed “border czar,” to discuss strategies for addressing the issue. “My position is people who commit crimes in our city, you have abdicated your right to be in our city and I am open to figure out the best way to address that,” he said.

Incoming border czar Tom Homan is planning to meet with Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams as the Big Apple struggles with a skyrocketing migrant population that has crippled city resources and fueled a crime wave. “I’m willing to meet with him, and I’m willing to meet with anybody to help make their communities safer,” Homan said Monday on “America’s Newsroom” after being contacted by the Adams administration. “Prioritization out of the gate is public safety threats. Work with us on that. It makes your community safer. It keeps my officers safe. It keeps the community safe. Let’s work together and get this done.” Some blue cities and states have already pushed back publicly against Homan’s pledge to tighten border security and make communities safer across the U.S.

In a cautionary tale for online shoppers, a YWN reader recently fell victim to an elaborate scam involving fake Facebook accounts impersonating well-known jewelers, highlighting the growing risk of fraud in the digital marketplace. The victim, seeking a good deal, encountered what appeared to be legitimate social media pages for two high-profile jewelers known for their business on Manhattan’s 47th Street: Moses the Jeweler and Vookum. These jewelers are famous for selling high-end watches, and their Instagram and Facebook accounts are widely followed. However, scammers had copied their Instagram and Facebook content to create fraudulent Facebook profiles, tricking unsuspecting buyers into believing the accounts were authentic.