Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit, was fatally shot outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning in what appears to be “a brazen, targeted attack,” the New York Police Department said.
“At this time, I want to be very, very clear: As far as we know, this was not a random, shooting.
This was a premeditated, preplanned act of violence,” Police Commissioner said during a Wednesday press conference.
”It does not look like he just went berserk, that is why our department is doing a thorough investigation,” she said.
How Brian Thompson was shot (United healthcare CEO)
Brian Thompson, 50, was the Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, a company that is the largest private health insurance company in the United States. He was en-route to UnitedHealth Group investor meeting scheduled to begin Wednesday at 0800 hrs ET at the Hilton, the NYPD said. Said event was canceled by the company after the shooting.
Patrol officers responded to a 911 call at 6:43 a.m. ET about a person shot in front of the Hilton hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said during the news conference. Officers arrived at 6:48 a.m. ET to find Thompson on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds to his back and leg, he added.” What did one add more on the incident?”
Emergency medical services brought Thompson to Roosevelt Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:MTV said that it is 12 a.m. ET, as per Kenny.
Brian Thompson put up at The Luxury Collection Hotel Manhattan Midtown, which is under the Marriott brand and found on 54th Street as NBC News reported.
The gunman came alone to the scene on foot approximately five minutes before Thompson described arriving outside the Hilton, according to Kenny. Thompson arrived several minutes later, he added several people passed him as he waited for Thompson.
According to Kenny, as well as security video obtained by NBC News, the shooter came out from behind a car on the sidewalk as Thompson walked alone toward the Hilton and fired several rounds, hitting him at least in the back and at least once in the right calf. After the first shots the gun seemed to jam before the perpetrator had to fire again.
After shooting, the gunman escaped on foot to the back alley that lies between 54th and 55th streets, said Kenny. He said the shooter then proceeded to walk along the Avenue of the Americas, and further, got onto the ebike and fled towards Central Park.
Tisch said the attacker was last spotted in Central Park on Center Drive earlier today. Kenny said the gunman wore a black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a “very distinctive” gray backpack. In the shooting video, the tooled shooter was characterized as wearing a hooded jacket.
Three new live 9 mm bullets and three expended 9 mm shell cases were also found, according to Kenny. He said they found a cellphone more than anything else.
No arrests have been made. The NYPD has upped the ante to $10,000 already in the case, Tisch said.
One person briefed on the matter said the gunman wore a silencer for the firearm that he was using.
Kenny reported that the NYPD still cannot know whether the shooter used a silencer. The department will investigate that further, he said.
A hot dog vendor near the Hilton who was present at 6 heard no gunshots but saw law enforcement officers descend shortly after 11.30 a.m. ET and shortly before 08.00 a.m. Hilton hotel doorman who started work at 7 a.m. ET during the incident said that things looked “pretty normal” there. The two respondents who approached this study requested the researcher not to reveal their identity.
UnitedHealthcare CEO shot in Midtown Manhattan
Graphic: Renée Rigdon, CNN
Brian Thompson is also survived by his wife, Paulette Thompson, and two children of this marriage.
In an interview with NBC News, Brian Thompson’s wife said that he had been receiving threats. She said that the NYPD told her that the attack was pre-planned.
Yes, there had been some threats basically I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details,” she said when interviewed by NBC News. “I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
While speaking to NBC News she said that Brian Thompson did not make any changes to his traveling pattern all the time he was receiving threats.
“I can’t really give a thoughtful response right now,” Paulette Thompson said when reached for comment by NBC News. Here I am just learning this and I am attempting to console my children. “
UnitedHealth Group can be described as the dominant player in the field of health care, at least in terms of current revenue, as well as a company with a market capitalization of around $563 billion. UnitedHealthcare was responsible for producing over 134 billion US dollars of UnitedHealth group’s 2023 year total over $281 billion, which constituted more than two-thirds of its total income.
On Wednesday, stock of UnitedHealth Group gained over 1 percent of its value.
UnitedHealth Group issued a statement on Wednesday that the company was “deeply saddened and shocked at the passing” of Brian Thompson. The company described him as a ‘highly respected colleague and friend to everybody who had the opportunity to work with him.’
”We are partnered with the New York Police Department and we do appreciate your cooperation during this time,” UnitedHealth Group stated. “We extend our sympathy to the family of Brian and all those who knew him.”
NYPD
Earlier on Wednesday, the company said it was calling off its investor event because a worker had a “medical scenario”.
“There is also bad news that some of you may know that we are actually facing a very severe health challenge with one of the members of our team,” chief executive officer Andrew Witty said during the investor day. “And therefore I have with lot of regret that we need to probably wrap up this event today, which I know everyone would agree.”
Brian Thompson was ‘truly extraordinary person,’ parent company CEO says
Thompson had been working for United Health since April 2004, but had been with PwC for almost seven years prior to that, as per his LinkedIn profile. He became the UnitedHealthcare CEO in April of this year after previously head the insurance unit’s government business division.
They said that Thompson was a man in his mid-twenties who grew up in Maple Grove, a suburb of Minneapolis, and graduated valedictorian of the class at the University of Iowa.
UnitedHealth Group
There had been criticizes relating to insider trading against him.
That May United HealthGroup, Thompson, Witty and Executive Chairman Stephen Hemsley were sued by a firefighters’ pension fund based in Hollywood, Florida. The suit also alleged that the executives had dumped a combined $120m of the company’s shares before the www.antitrust.gov DoJ investigation was made public.
This investigation was connected to UnitedHealth Group’s $8bn acquisition of Change Healthcare completed last year, which undertakes medical claims processing.
The lawsuit claimed that, Thompson knew about the investigation since as October 2023 and dumped his shares valued at $15.1 million on Feb. 16 which was less than two weeks to the knowledge of the probe by the public.
New York governor Kathy Hochul mentioned in a statement on Wednesday that she was informed about the shooting and instructed the state police to assist the NYPD in the investigation if needed.
”Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mr. Thompson and we pledge to work hard to see that the culprit faces the maximum consequence,” she said.
Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz said the killing was “horrible news and very sad when our business and heath care community is losing such talent”.
Still, UnitedHealth Group was dealing with the consequences of a ransomware attack in February aimed at Change Healthcare, a company that processes medical claims. The attack affected the PHI of at least 100 million individuals.
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