Politics
Chief Executive of Insurance Giant Is Gunned Down Outside Midtown Hotel
Brian Thompson, the head of UnitedHealthcare, was the victim of what the police said was a targeted shooting. His killer shot him in the back, then walked coolly away.
The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, was fatally shot Wednesday morning in what the police called a bold assassination outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel, sending officers on a citywide manhunt for the killer.
The executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 a.m. on West 54th Street near the New York Hilton Midtown, where his company was holding its annual investors day. The surrounding blocks, draped in holiday decorations, are a hugely popular destination for tourists and shoppers alike.
The police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who was sworn in just 10 days ago, called the killing a “brazen targeted attack” and said, “We will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case.”
The killer wore a dark hooded jacket and a gray backpack, pictures released by the police show, with his face covered to his nose. He apparently knew which door Mr. Thompson was going to enter and arrived outside the hotel about five minutes earlier, ignoring passing pedestrians as he waited for his target.
Surveillance video shows Mr. Thompson, wearing a blue suit, walking toward the hotel entrance in the predawn dim. The shooter, seen from behind, walks up and fires at least three times, striking Mr. Thompson in the calf and in his back with a pistol that appears to be fitted with a silencer.
The victim manages a couple of steps and turns to face his attacker before collapsing on the sidewalk. The shooter’s pistol jammed during the shooting, but the gunman quickly cleared the jam and resumed firing, the police said.
