The CEO of a powerful U.S. insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed while walking in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, in what the police are characterizing as a premeditated ambush. The shooting has spurred an intensive manhunt for the gunman, who fled on a bicycle and was last seen entering Central Park.
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Here’s what we know.
The UnitedHealthcare CEO’s shooting was ‘targeted’
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was heading to the Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York City for an investor conference at roughly 6:45 a.m. Wednesday when an unidentified gunman wearing a hood and mask fired multiple rounds from a pistol in a fatal ambush. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has called it a “brazen, targeted attack.”
“This does not appear to be a random act of violence,” she said at a news conference, adding: “Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target.”
Paulette Thompson, 51, identified by NBC News as Brian Thompson’s wife, told the news outlet that police had informed her that the attack on her husband was planned.
The gunman waited at a nearby Starbucks for several minutes before carrying out the attack, according to police.
UnitedHealth publicly stated last month that the event would take place on Dec. 4 in New York at 8 a.m., but it didn’t publicly share the location. Thompson was slated to attend.
The gunman’s identity is not known
Police still have not publicly identified the gunman, and are looking into whether anyone had a known grudge against Thompson, a 50-year-old Iowa native.
Authorities released still images of the suspect taken from surveillance footage recorded at the Starbucks. The images showed a man wearing a black hooded jacket, a black partial face-covering and a gray backpack.
Police said they were looking through social media and speaking to witnesses to see whether anyone knows why Thompson was killed, offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and prosecution. They said they also were looking into the possibility that the shooter had been hired to kill the executive.
Brian Thompson was a top executive of UnitedHealthcare’s parent group
Thompson joined UnitedHealth Group in 2004 and rose through the ranks to become the head of the conglomerate’s largest unit, UnitedHealthcare, which made about $281 billion last year and provides employer and individual health coverage to about 50 million people in the United States.
Thompson also served as executive of the parent company, though he was not its public face. He often supported UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty in calls with financial analysts.
In a statement, the company described Thompson as “a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) also issued a statement, saying, “This is horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota,” where UnitedHealth Group is headquartered.
The manhunt for the shooter is ongoing
Police have been able to track the gunman’s movements in a neighbourhood full of city-operated and private surveillance cameras, but he has not been found. His last known whereabouts are Central Park after he fled the shooting scene on a bicycle.
Surveillance camera footage obtained by The Post appeared to show the suspect exiting the 57th Street F Train station at 6:15 a.m. and walking briskly down Sixth Avenue toward the Hilton Hotel, where police say they responded to a call of a person being shot at 6:46 a.m.
The gunman then entered Central Park via Central Park South, police said, concluding that he exited on the west side. It’s not clear if he left the bike in the park or if he abandoned it elsewhere.