The gunman who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Manhattan on Wednesday is still at large.
Police have released several still imagestaken from surveillance video footage of a man they have identified as a “person of interest” in the case. Law enforcement authorities have said they believe Thompson’s killing, which occurred while he was in New York City for an investor event, was a “premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.”
Follow along below for the latest updates:
Gunman Reportedly Used Fake ID At Hostel Before Shooting
According to reports from the New York Times and CBS News, the suspected gunman used a fake ID with a fake name to check into a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
The Times, citing a law enforcement source, also reported the suspect had been in the city for 10 days prior to the shooting.
What To Know About Brian Thompson, The Health Care CEO Shot To Death In New York
Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected.
Then Wednesday’s targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight.
Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business.
As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs.
New Footage Shows Suspect Leaving Subway
CBS News has obtained footage that appears to show the suspected gunman exiting a subway station in Manhattan roughly a half hour before the shooting occurred.
Wife Of Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Says He’d Been Receiving Threats
The wife of slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson revealed to NBC News shortly after his fatal shooting that he’d been receiving threats.
“Yes, there had been some threats. … I don’t know details,” his wife, Paulette Thompson, told the network after her husband was shot in New York City on Wednesday morning. “I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
She believed the threats had to do with “a lack of coverage” ― ostensibly referring to UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, denying some insurance coverage.
Flirtatious Moment Helped Police Get Full-Face Photo Of Suspected Gunman
A police official told CNN that the suspected gunman pulled down his mask and exposed his full face on camera while apparently flirting with an employee at his hostel.
“Among the interviews they’ve been conducting, law enforcement interviewed a female employee at the hostel who said, at one point, she asked the then masked man to lower his mask while flirting with him — which is when the photos released by the New York Police Department today were captured, the official said,” the network said.
Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Accused Of Insider Trading Amid DOJ Probe
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was facing a lawsuit accusing him and other executives of insider trading related to an ongoing Justice Department investigation before he was fatally shot outside a New York City hotel on Wednesday.
Thompson, 50, was one of three UnitedHealth Group executives named in a class action lawsuit filed in May that accused them of dumping millions of dollars worth of stock while the company was the subject of a federal antitrust investigation, which investors say wasn’t immediately disclosed to shareholders.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO Fatally Shot In New York City
The CEO of UnitedHealthcare has been fatally shot in New York City in what police said was a “pre-planned, targeted attack.”
Brian Thompson, 50, was shot outside the Hilton hotel in Manhattan’s Midtown shortly before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, the New York City Police Department confirmed at a press conference late Wednesday morning. The New York Post had been the first to report Thompson was the victim.
What The UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooter Had Written On Ammunition
The man who gunned down Thompson used ammunition emblazoned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. It’s a message that echoes the phrase “delay, deny, defend” – a critical phrase commonly used to describe the tactics insurance companies use to deny paying claims.
The revelation may further fuel suspicion that Thompson’s shooting had to do with his company’s practices. Shortly after his death, his wife told NBC News that he’d been receiving threats and that they may have had to do with “a lack of coverage.”