Investigators are looking for clues to help them identify the masked gunman persecuted and killed the leader of one of the largest health insurance companies in the US on a Manhattan sidewalk, then disappeared in Central Park.
CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson50, was killed in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Midtown Hilton, blocks from tourist spots like Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art.
The murder, and the movements of the shooter in the minutes before and after, were captured on some of the multitudes of security cameras present in that part of the city.
A video showed him approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his gun and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a brief gun jam as the dying health care executive fell to the pavement.
Other security cameras captured the initial stages of the gunman’s escape. He was seen fleeing the block through a pedestrian plaza, then escaping on a bicycle into Central Park, where he disappeared.
Police used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intense search, but the killer’s whereabouts remained unknown late into the night.
This still image from surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press shows the suspect, left, wanted in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, center, outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding a investor conference, Wednesday, December 4. 2024. (Photo AP)AP
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that while investigators had not yet established a motive, the shooting was not a random act of violence.
“A lot of people overtook the suspect, but he seemed to be waiting for his target,” Tisch said at a news conference Wednesday.
“From watching the video, it appears that he is proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the errors quite quickly,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny .
Police released several surveillance images of the man, who was wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that hid most of his face and would not have attracted attention on a cold winter’s day. Some of the photos were taken at a Starbucks coffee shop shortly before the shooting.
The police department offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
“Brian was a well-respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” the Minnetonka, Minn.-based insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., said in a statement. “We are working closely with the NYPD and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.”
Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her “there were some people who had threatened him.” He did not have specifics, but suggested the threats may have involved problems with insurance coverage.
Eric Werner, the police chief in the Minneapolis suburb where Thompson lived, said his department had not received any reports of threats against the executive.
Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel and a cell phone from the alley where the shooter fled. They were also searching Thompson’s hotel room, interviewing his UnitedHealthcare colleagues and checking his social media, Kenny said.
Police initially said the shooter entered Central Park on a bicycle from the city’s bike-sharing program, CitiBike. But a spokesman for the program’s operator, Lyft, said law enforcement officials informed the company late Wednesday that the bike was not from CitiBike’s fleet.
Healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group held its annual meeting with investors to update Wall Street on the company’s direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference soon after Thompson’s death.
Thompson, a father of two, had been with the company since 2004 and was managing director for more than three years.
UnitedHealthcare is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the US and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz published on social platform X that the state is “sending our prayers to Brian’s family and the team at UnitedHealthcare.”
“This is horrible news and a terrible loss for Minnesota’s business and healthcare community,” the Democrat wrote.