The masked gunman who killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies in front of midtown Manhattan surveillance cameras remained at large Thursday as the nation’s largest police department hunted for him.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, died in the dawn ambush Wednesday. Thompson was walking to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton in Midtown, blocks from tourist draws like Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art.
A law enforcement official said the shooter had used ammunition with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on it in permanent marker. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The words on the ammunition may have been a reference to strategies insurance companies use to try to avoid paying claims.
Police also said they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush and think the suspect bought them from a Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The items were being tested by the city’s medical examiner.
What happened?
Police said Thompson was heading to the company’s annual investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown around 6:45 a.m. when a person walked up behind him and shot him.
Thompson was alone and had no bodyguards, police said.
Officers found him on the ground with wounds to his back and right calf, according to Joseph Kenny, the NYPD chief of detectives. The CEO was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 7:12 a.m.
What do we know about the shooter?
Kenny said the shooter wore a black face mask, black-and-white sneakers and a distinctive gray backpack.
He arrived outside the hotel about five minutes before Thompson did, then waited and ignored other pedestrians before he approached Thompson from behind.
After the assailant began to fire, his 9 mm pistol jammed but he quickly fixed it and kept firing, Kenny said.
“From watching the video, it does seem that he’s proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly,” Kenny said.
The shooter ran into an alleyway near the hotel and later got on the e-bike that he took into Central Park.
Police initially said the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle from the city’s bike-share program, CitiBike. But a spokesperson for the program’s operator, Lyft, said police officials informed the company Wednesday afternoon that the bike was not from the CitiBike fleet.
Kenny said police found a cellphone in the alleyway, but it was unclear if it belonged to the shooter.
What do we know about the search?
As of Thursday evening, police had released new photos taken inside the HI New York City hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side of a person they said was wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting.
A hostel employee said police had visited but declined to more information. Spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said the hostel is cooperating with the NYPD and can’t comment on the investigation.
The hunt brought officers to another hostel in the neighborhood, Kama Central Park, on Thursday morning, according to the employee who said two detectives arrived at 7 a.m. and asked if staff recognized a photo of the shooter. They didn’t, the employee said.
Who was Brian Thompson?
Thompson was the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance wing of parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc.
He had worked at the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company for two decades and led its insurance division since 2021. He was one of the company’s highest-paid executives, with a $10.2 million annual compensation package.
Thompson kept a low profile, with UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s CEO Andrew Witty taking on a more public-facing role that included testifying before Congress.
Thompson started his career as a certified public accountant and graduated from the University of Iowa. He lived in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove and was the married father of two sons in high school,
His wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband said some people had been threatening him. She did not have details, but suggested they may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
Maple Grove Police Chief Eric Werner said his department had not received any reports of threats against the executive.