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The gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the bustling streets of NYC carved a suspected message into the shell casings of the bullets he used to execute the executive -- and it might offer a clue into why he did it, TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... three 9MM shell casings cops recovered from the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan had the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” scrawled on them.

Our sources say two of the words appear in the title of a 2010 book, "Delay, Deny, Defend," which slams the health insurance sector -- and, as we now know, Thompson was one of the industry's bigwigs.

The masked assassin who took out UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was caught on camera casually chatting on the phone just minutes before pulling the trigger, new video shows.

Surveillance footage shows a man decked out in the same dark outfit -- hat, ski mask, and gray backpack -- holding a phone to his ear as he strolled east on 54th Street toward the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue around 6:30 AM Wednesday -- just 15 minutes before the fatal shooting.

The NYPD said the killer showed up about 5 minutes before the attack, lying in wait for his target. When the moment came, he used a gun with a silencer to fire the shots that killed Thompson.

Taylor Lorenz -- a controversial journalist formerly of the Washington Post -- shared a photo of the Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO on the same day UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered.

Here's the deal ... Lorenz has posted multiple times to Bluesky and X in the aftermath of a gunman shooting and killing Thompson on a New York City street early Wednesday morning -- starting when Blue Cross Blue Shield announced it wouldn't cover anesthesia for the entirety of some surgeries.

TL shared the story on social media ... along with a picture of Kim A. Keck -- BCBS' CEO since 2021.

A man’s stepping forward with a jaw-dropping claim -- he says he may have figured out the whereabouts of the assassin who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ... all thanks to Citi Bike's tracking data.

A data scientist named Riley, who goes by @rtwlz on X, dropped a bombshell post, revealing how he's been scraping Citi Bike data every minute ... and he could see exactly where individual bikes go.

And here's the kicker -- he says the only northbound Citi Bike to leave within 10 minutes of the shooting near the Hilton hotel where Thompson was entering, left at 6:44 AM and headed straight to a location at Madison Ave & 82nd St at 6:52 AM.

Hannah Kobayashi's aunt says the family is unsure what exactly is happening with her, even though police say she crossed the border into Mexico.

Larie Pidgeon joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and she told us law enforcement is not showing them footage of Hannah leaving the United States.

Cops say Hannah was alone and she was traveling with her luggage when she crossed the border and there's been no evidence of human trafficking or any criminal activity ... but Larie's not ready to rule any of that out.

The woman who tried to calm the little girl throwing food inside a Walmart in a viral video says the kid was scared because she was separated from her family.

Amber Gregory is the woman in the black outfit who shows up at the scene and attempts to soothe the little girl as she throws and stomps on packages of food inside the store.

Lots of folks thought she was the kid's mom, but Amber says she was just trying to help the little girl ... because she reminded her of her own child.

NYPD has clear footage of the killer who opened fire on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan ... but only from behind the suspect.

Cops released the surveillance images captured Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel on 6th Ave and 54th Street ... and it shows 50-year-old Thompson strolling into the hotel by himself around 6:45 AM. The shooter walks up behind him, draws a handgun and starts shooting from less than 10 feet away.

It appears the suspect fired his weapon, which was fitted with a silencer, at least 3 times ... before fleeing into an alleyway on the other side of the street. Police say he made his getaway on a bicycle, which was captured on a different surveillance camera, and rode into Central Park ... just a few blocks away.

Hannah Kobayashi's aunt is grateful cops spotted the missing photographer crossing the border into Mexico, but says she still believes her niece is in danger, and she's refusing to call off the search.

Larie Pidgeon tells TMZ ... she knows LAPD detectives "worked tirelessly, and their efforts have brought us to this new piece of the puzzle. But I also want to be clear -- this search is not over. Knowing Hannah crossed the border does not provide the answers I need, nor does it ease the heartbreak I feel."

Larie's reacting to an image LAPD's Missing Persons Unit says it has of Hannah willfully crossing the border into Mexico on Nov. 12. Hannah's family reported her missing about 2 weeks ago, after she missed a scheduled flight to NYC from LAX on Nov. 8, the last day she was captured on camera.

New twist in the Hannah Kobayashi missing persons case ... police in Los Angeles say they have her on video crossing the border into Mexico.

The LAPD just released new information on the case, and cops say Missing Persons Unit investigators traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border where they reviewed surveillance footage from U.S. Customs and Border Protection clearly showing Hannah crossing the border on foot into Mexico.

Cops say Hannah was alone and she was traveling with her luggage.

Harvey Weinstein is back at Bellevue Hospital in New York City after getting some alarming results from a recent blood test ... TMZ has learned.

Weinstein's attorney, Imran H. Ansari, tells TMZ ... the blood test, taken at Rikers Island, was related to Weinstein's leukemia diagnosis, and while the results are concerning, his condition is treatable.

It's the latest health issue for Weinstein -- his attorney says he's "been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island."

Mark Geragos says he's confident he would have gotten Hunter Biden off scot-free in his tax evasion trial, but President Biden's son didn't want to put his family back in the spotlight ... so he entered a guilty plea.

Hunter's attorney joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and we pressed him about his risky decision to have Hunter enter an "open plea" ... meaning there was no deal with prosecutors regarding sentencing.

Mark says he was going to win Hunter's case by flipping the government's argument in the Delaware gun trial on its head ... namely, that HB was so addled by drug use he could not have intentionally violated tax codes.

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi moved thousands of miles from their home in the U.S. just weeks ago ... and they just had the same type of natural disaster they experienced at their former home.

TMZ broke the story ... Ellen and Portia moved permanently to the Cotswolds in England, just days after Trump was elected. Sources tell TMZ ... they wanted to "get the hell out."

Their new home across the pond was smack in the middle of a huge weather system that flooded the area in dramatic fashion. There were raging floods that decimated the area, along with 80 MPH winds.

Peanut the Squirrel's owners are gearing up for an upcoming legal battle ... filing an official notice of their intention to sue the State of New York for the death of their beloved pet.

Mark Longo and Daniela Bittner filed a notice of their intention to make a claim against the government for the death of Peanut and their raccoon, Fred ... alleging unlawful search and seizure, violation of freedom of speech, and other due process violations.

Longo and Bittner say the incident was the result of negligence, carelessness, and recklessness by the state of NY and its agents ... saying they may have violated due process laws by not revealing to a judge their intention to kill the animals after raiding Longo and Bittner's home.

John Shahidi, who manages the popular podcasters the Nelk Boys, is the driving force behind Donald Trump considering adding a modern twist to the White House Press Briefing room ... and he's telling us how this media landscape-altering idea came about.

John joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and explained why the President-elect seems responsive to his grand idea to credential bro podcasters for the administration's upcoming daily media briefings.

Trump hit the podcast circuit hard during the election and John says that helped him gain traction with younger generations of voters, particularly men, who consume podcasts as opposed to traditional news outlets ... like the ABCs, CNNs and NBCs of the world.

Explosive footage out of Brazil shows the terrifying moment a burning, out-of-control bus crashes into an electrical pole ... sparking a fiery blast, and sending people running for cover.

The scary situation unfolded Monday on the streets of Sao Paulo, and the video picks up with the bus already engulfed in flames, and rolling down the street.

The public transit bus crashes into a light pole outside a business on a busy street ... and then there's a big explosion ... with flames shooting out of the bus' roof and windows, and smoke billowing into the air.

This is no way to score an upgrade -- new video shows a United Airlines passenger standing on his seat, furiously kicking and trying his level best to destroy it.

The man flew into a full rage during the United flight from Austin to L.A., silently doing all he could to smash his coach seat to smithereens ... while other passengers on the flight watched in horror, no doubt wondering what the hell was wrong with the guy.

Decked out in gray sweatpants, the unidentified flyer's bizarre violence streak continued until another passenger, Gino Galofaro -- who recorded the Nov. 16 attack -- stepped in to hold him down. Gino says 2 other passengers ran to get zip ties, and all 3 of them eventually restrained him.