The masked gunman who killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies in front of Manhattan surveillance cameras remained at large Friday as the nation’s largest police department hunted for him.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, died in the ambush early 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.
The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were found emblazoned on the ammunition, echoing a phrase used by insurance industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation.
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 an 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?
Investigators believe that the killer may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta and that at some point he checked into a hostel, law enforcement officials said.
Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the killer and are working to determine whether he bought the ticket to New York in late November, one official said.
Police released photos Thursday, taken inside the HI New York City hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, of a person they said was wanted for questioning in the shooting.
Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card when he checked in at the hostel, said one official who spoke with the AP.
Employees at the hostel said they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them. That person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man pictured in surveillance images released after the shooting, the official said.
Spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said the hostel is cooperating with the police and can’t comment on the investigation.
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.
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Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo in Washington and Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this report.
