UnitedHealth executive killed in Manhattan in targeted attack

Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance unit, was killed on Wednesday morning outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in what police described as a targeted attack by a gunman lying in wait for him.

Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45am outside the Hilton on Sixth Avenue, just before the company's annual investor conference. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police said the gunman was at large and they were still investigating a motive.

"This does not appear to be a random act of violence," New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference. "Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack."

The suspect, wearing a mask and carrying a gray backpack, fled on foot before mounting an electric bike and riding into Central Park, police said.

The killing took place just hours before the city's annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center a few blocks away, a televised event that draws massive crowds. Police officials said that event would proceed as planned under heavy security.

Thompson's wife, Paulette, told NBC News that he had received some threats, though she did not know any specifics.

"Basically, I don't know, a lack of coverage?" she said, appearing to allude to a potential insurance-related motive, according to the network. "I don't know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."

UnitedHealth is the largest US health insurer, providing benefits to tens of millions of Americans, who pay more for health care than people in any other country. Thompson had been the CEO of UnitedHealth care, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, since April 2021.

The company has been grappling with the fallout from a massive data hack of its Change Health care unit that provides technology for US health providers, disrupting medical care for patients and reimbursement to doctors for months.

'Specifically targeted'

The gunman arrived outside the Hilton about five minutes before Thompson, and he ignored other people walking by. He then shot Thompson in the back when he passed, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters.

"It does appear that the victim was specifically targeted, but at this point we do not know why," Kenny said.

The pistol appeared to be fitted with a silencer, according to surveillance video, although Kenny said use of a silencer could not be verified from the images.

At about 9am, an hour after UnitedHealth's conference started, Chief Executive Andrew Witty took the stage and announced the program was canceled because of a "very serious medical situation."

Baird investment analyst Michael Ha, who attended the UnitedHealth event, said people were frightened, confused and crying in the hotel hallway.

"At the time, we did not know what had happened, when it had happened, where it had happened. So we didn't even know if there was a potentially a shooter in the actual building itself," he said.

The company later removed photos of its leaders from its website.

Busy tourist area

Dave Ricks, CEO of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly who spoke at another business conference in New York on Wednesday, said Thompson's killing was shocking. "He was assassinated essentially in the street going to his investor conference."

Thompson had worked at UnitedHealth since 2004 in several divisions, according to a biography later removed from the company's website. "Our hearts go out to Brian's family and all who were close to him," the company said in a statement.

Ha said Thompson was an "incredibly smart, talented health care leader, with such a bright future ahead of him."

The police department in Maple Grove, Minnesota, where Thompson lived, said it had no record of threats against him, and the Minneapolis Police Department said there was "no occurrence" of Thompson in its records.

In May, a firefighters pension fund in Hollywood, Florida, sued the company and three executives, including Thompson, accusing them of selling a combined US$120 million in company shares before a US Department of Justice antitrust probe was disclosed publicly, according to the complaint.

The shooting happened at the outset of New York's busy holiday season, expected to bring more than 7.5 million visitors to the city, according to a local tourism bureau.

Heather Higginson, a visitor from London staying at the Hilton where the shooting occurred, said the violence was shocking. "That's not what you want to hear at Christmas, is it? ... It's very sad."

New York's murder rate spiked after the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since dropped to pre-COVID levels. This year, 347 homicides were recorded in the city through December 1 compared with 370 in the same period of 2023, according to police data.