1. How do they explain shooting?
Brian Thompson was shot outside a midtown Manhattan hotel at 6.45am local time. He had been due for a conference in the city on Wednesday.
Some image released by the police, the suspect showed up at the Starbucks coffee shop minutes before the shooting. The suspected shooter was wearing a dark jacket with a hood, a dark mask over his nose, dark pants and a gray backpack.
Surveillance footage shows a man believed to be the shooter making a phone call near the hotel around 6:30am ET. According to officials, the suspect appeared to be waiting for the UnitedHealthcare CEO for several minutes.
Police said he approached Thompson from behind and stabbed him in the back before moving toward the victim and continuing to shoot. Finally, Thompson was shot in the back and once in the calf.
Authorities said the gun appeared to have malfunctioned, and the gunman cleared the jam before firing again and fleeing north into the alley between 54th Street and 55th Street. The shooter then walked to America West Avenue, where he got an electric Citi Bike and rode north toward Central Park.
The police noticed that they were collecting information about the ebike, specifically tracking its GPS.
Video footage of the shooting showed the suspect “advancing the gun” and clearing his gun in the middle of the attack, police said.
Police were unable to determine whether the silencer was used through the video surveillance they now have access to.
Police say they recovered three live 9mm rounds and three spent 9mm shell casings.
Officers recovered a cellphone near the shooting scene and are conducting forensic analysis to see if it is linked to the victim or suspect.
2. What do we know about the suspect’s whereabouts?
So far this suspicious place remains unknown. New York police are using facial recognition technology and a discarded cellphone to find the shooter. They are believed to be focusing on the Starbucks footage to determine the identity of the shooter.
The shooter fled the scene, but Thompson was nowhere to be found. Video footage shows the suspect on the south side of Central Park at around 6.48am local time, according to the BBC.
3. What do we know about the cause?
In short, not much though. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called Thompson’s death “a targeted airstrike” that “does not appear to be a random act of violence.”
“I want to be clear at this time: every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-arranged, targeted attack,” he said.
But the motive for the shooting remains unclear. Police are looking for the gunman and are offering up to $10,000 to anyone with information about Thompson’s death.
4. Who was Brian Thompson?
Brian Thompson was 50, lived in Minnesota and was CEO since 2021. The father of two, Thompson lived in a suburb of Minneapolis, about a twenty-minute drive from the company’s headquarters.
He was in New York for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference on Wednesday morning.
A University of Iowa alumnus, Thompson joined the company in 2004 from computer giant PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was named chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021 after serving in several other roles, most recently chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare’s marketing program.
Prior to this role, he served as the CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s government programs including Medicare and retirement, and city and community.
5. Had Thompson received threats?
A phone call to NBC NewsThompson’s wife Paulette said: “There were threats. Basically, I don’t know, lack of coverage? I don’t know the details. I just know that he said there were some people who threatened him.
While this “awareness of coverage” did not work out for the network, the comment comes amid backlash that UnitedHealthcare has experienced over its coverage. Earlier this year, protesters outside the company’s headquarters in Minnesota were arrested and detained there in an effort to bring the organization to light.”Incorrect model coverage denials“.