Was Samuel Hyde named as the suspect in the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO? No, that's not true: Sam, or Samuel, Hyde is a comedian whose name and likeness have been the subject of internet memes associated with shootings since 2015. One of the photos of a person of interest released by the New York Police Department was edited to add Hyde's likeness -- but the shooting suspect had not been named as of December 6, 2024.
The altered image appeared in a post (archived here) on X on December 5, 2024. It was captioned:
🚨BREAKING🚨 UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter identified as Samuel Hyde. NYPD has put out an APB to apprehend him. Do NOT approach, suspect is armed and dangerous.
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Dec 06 18:29:15 2024 UTC)
The image in the post was altered to add the face of comedian and podcaster Sam Hyde (pictured above). The original image of the "person of interest" wanted for questioning by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) was taken inside the HI-New York City Hostel on Amsterdam Avenue in New York as reported by the Associated Press (archived here). The image showing the smiling man in a hooded coat (below left) along with another photo was posted on X (archived here), by the NYPD News account on December 5, 2024. Additional images were posted (archived here) by the account on December 4, 2024.
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Dec 06 18:34:15 2024 UTC)
'Sam Hyde is the killer' meme
As part of an internet in-joke, Hyde gets blamed for many mass shootings or headline-grabbing assassinations that happen, often within minutes of the event. The joke originally started on 4chan and has been perpetuated for years by various troll accounts. The photo of Hyde's face in the post on X has been used in the past. Pictured below is a reversed picture of Hyde's face in another digital edit. The screenshot from a February 26, 2022, Lead Stories fact check of the claim that the "Ghost of Kyiv's real name is Samuyil Hyde."
(Source: Leadstories.com screenshot taken on Fri Dec 06 18:34:15 2024 UTC)
Additional Lead Stories fact checks involving claims naming Sam Hyde can be found here.
