Police release photos amid the search for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO
Updated: 9:42 PM EST Dec 5, 2024
In midtown Manhattan early this morning, 50 year old Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare was shot and killed in what appears at this early stage of our investigation to be *** brazen targeted attack. This does not appear to be *** random act of violence. The victim was in New York City to speak at an investor conference. It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes and as the victim was walking to the conference hotel, the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf, many people passed the suspect but he appeared to wait for his intended target. The suspect fled first on foot then on an E bike and was last seen in central park on center drive early this morning. The victim was removed to Roosevelt Hospital where he was pronounced. We’ve been in touch with his family, his friends and his colleagues and they are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this hour. The full investigative efforts of the New York City Police Department are well underway and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter. In this case, the women and men of the NYPD take enormous pride in the work that they do each day and each night to drive down crime and violence in our city. Right now, we are asking the public for your help. If you have any information about this case, call crime stoppers at 805 77 tips, we have increased the reward in this case to $10,000. I want to be clear at this time. Every indication is that this was *** premeditated, pre planned targeted attack. Millions of people will be enjoying the tree lighting tonight. Among other holiday events and the NYPD will be out there with them, keeping them safe for some preliminary details about today’s tragic incident. I pass it over to our chief of detectives chief Joe Kenny. Thank you, Commissioner. The information I’m about to give you is preliminary as our investigation is continuing this morning at 6:46 a.m. Patrol officers from Midtown North precinct responded to *** 911 call of *** person shot in front of the Hilton Hotel located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. This is between West 53rd street and West West 54th street. At 6:48 a.m. Officers arrive and find the victim. Brian R Thompson, *** 50 year old male on the sidewalk in front of the Hilton with gunshot wounds to his back and leg Mr Thompson was removed by Ems the Roosevelt hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m. Mr Thompson is the CEO of United Health Care and resides in Minnesota. Detectives from night watch midtown North detective squad and Manhattan South homicide responded to the scene and began their investigation. What we know is that the shooter arrived at the location on foot about five minutes prior to the victim’s arrival. He stands alongside the building line as numerous other people and pedestrians pass him by from video we see at 6:44 a.m. the victim is walking alone towards the Hilton after exiting his hotel across the street, we believe the victim was headed to the Hilton Hotel to attend the United Health Group Investors conference that was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. The shooter appears to be *** light skinned male. He’s wearing *** light brown or cream colored jacket, *** black face mask, black and white sneakers and *** very distinctive gray backpack. The shooter steps onto the sidewalk from behind the car. He ignores numerous other pedestrians approaches the victim from behind and shoots him in the back. The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot. It appears that the gun malfunctions as he clears the jam and begins to fire again. The shooter then flees on foot northbound into an alleyway between 54th street and 55th street. Once at West 55th Street, the shooter continues to walk westbound on the Avenue of the Americas where he gets onto an electric E bike and rides northbound on the Avenue America’s towards Central Park where at 6:48 a.m. we have the shooter riding this bike into central park at center drive at the scene, we recover three live nine millimeter rounds and three discharged nine millimeter shell casings. The motive for this murder currently is unknown. But based on the evidence we have so far, it does appear that the victim was specifically targeted. But at this point, we do not know why this does not appear to be *** random act of violence. We are seeking information from the public to help identify the shooter. As the commissioner said, we have upped the reward of up to $10,000 for information. You’re urged to contact crime stoppers at 1 805 77 tips, all information will be kept anonymous. Thank you very much. Um So it’s about an hour and 20 minutes before the start of the conference. Is there any indication that he was going to meet someone because it’s pretty early. Is he on his way to meet someone there at the conference? He leaves the hotel dressed like he’s going to be attending the conference. We’re working with his coworkers and other people that he planned on attending the conference with to get that at the. But as of right now, he’s, you know, in charge of the conference So we believe he’s getting there to help set up. Ok. And then just the city bike, if I may do we know where that city bike is? Now? Does he dock it or does he keep riding it? We’re still tracking video. The last we see with him on that bike is in central because is there *** way to track that bike through the gps on those bikes? We’ll be working with the company and chief from, were any words exchanged? If so, what were the words? Uh And uh, I’m told the cell phone was covered uh, in alleyway on his escape route. Uh Does that appear to be connected? We’re working through that cell phone. Obviously, we’ll be processing it forensically and as far as words being exchanged, we do not have audio of the incident. We only have the regular video. Nothing. Well, there was one witness standing right next to the victim when he was shot. We’re still trying to identify that victim. Excuse me. Excuse me, that witness to Eric. Thank you. Um Chief, was he checked into the hotel across the street alone? Was he in the city alone? Was he accompanied by, by anybody? Did he have any known enemies or, or anyone that you’ve been able to find so far? Like I said, we’re, we’re reaching out to law enforcement in Minnesota and we’re also interviewing his, his coworkers and family members to see if there have been any specific threats against him in the past as far as who was he, uh, in the hotel with, uh, we’re doing *** search warrant in his hotel room right now that might lead us, uh, give us some more information. All right, we’re gonna go over to, uh, Dean Moses. So based on the surveillance, um, do you feel like he’s professional? You mentioned that you need to put in spell specialist? What, um, I’ll answer the part about whether or not he’s *** professional that, you know, we have no way of knowing that. Um 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. But as far as the tree lighting, I’ll, I’ll leave that to Chief Magic. Good morning Dean. Uh just really quick. We don’t, this incident will not affect the tree lighting. The tree lighting is slated to start at 7 p.m. The show, the actual lighting of the tree will be close at 10 o’clock. Actually 9:55 p.m. We will have *** massive police presence out there around Rockefeller Center from 52nd street all the way down to 47th street. We will have plainclothes out there, *** plainclothes detail out there. We will have our, our CRC assets, our spec uh strategic res response group assets. We will have our intel division out there. Uh *** lot of assets out there to make sure people can come out and have *** good time and we’re gonna have additional police officers in the subways as well so people can take mass transit to make it easier to travel into the city and enjoy the tree. Uh This is *** terrible event, but we’re going to go on and people are gonna enjoy the tree lighting tonight. Um I wonder if you could tell me the mayor said that there was evidence recovered at the scene that would indicate that this was not *** random event. I wonder if you could tell me what that evidence was. And by looking at the gun, it appears that there’s *** silencer on the gun. Was there *** silencer on the gun? And does this indicate not only that it was premeditated, but this is somebody who knew his way around guns and might have been *** professional. Once again, we won’t know that until we complete our investigation and identify the shooter or recover that firearm. You know, you see *** glimpse of the gun in video. So we’re not able to make *** determination on whether or not *** silencer was used on that quick glimpse of video. We can’t tell from that little glimpse of video. I’m not going to commit to saying that at this time that would be part of our investigation. There’s ***, there’s *** cell phone recovered in the alleyway and once again, we will process that forensically and see if it comes back to this shooting. Once again, this investigation is less than five hours old. That will be part of our investigation arrived in New York City. Uh, my understanding is he staying close, reverse video and incubated it as of right now, based on the current video that we do have, it doesn’t appear that they crossed paths and he arrived in New York on Monday. All right, we’re gonna take two or three more. Rocco, uh, chief, did he, uh, typically travel with *** security detail? And even though it’s early, is there anything to indicate that there had been issues with, let’s say *** patient who was denied coverage either, uh, back in Minnesota or Mo more recently, you know, someone who lives here from, from speaking to other employees that traveled with him to New York. It doesn’t seem that he had his security detail. Uh, he left the hotel by himself, uh, was walking, uh, didn’t seem like he had any issues at all. Um, so I don’t think he did not have *** security detail as far as I know that that’s, that’s typically an issue with these major companies. Any, any reason to believe he had been the subject of ***, of *** threat. On once again, we’re, we’re, we’re looking at everything, we’re looking at his social media, we are interviewing employees, we are interviewing family members, we will be speaking to law enforcement in Minnesota. Sorry, I was just going to ask if any cursory, look at any social media, whether it’s the company, whether it’s his personal social media, his family, is there anything obvious that sticks out at this early stage? We have not uncovered anything at this time? The investigation is still too early. How’s it going? Um, you know, with the suspects still at large last year in Central Park, are you urging New Yorkers to avoid the park? Is the NYPD deploying its drones? Uh I know they recently started doing that in the park. And then also I was wondering, is there any indication when he gets this city bike that he’s *** city bike member? It’s like sometimes if you’re not *** member, you can uh pay to use it. I don’t know if you’re able to talent it real the city. But uh the chief of detect was the answer the part about the city bike. But in terms of we’re, we’re encouraging New Yorkers to go about their daily lives and their daily business. But to be alert, we put the picture out. You’re putting the picture out. We want people to take *** look if they see anything suspicious. If they hear anything suspicious, we ask them to call 911 to reach out to our detectives, uh with an incident like this, of course, we put uh uh *** heavy deployment into Manhattan. We put additional resources out. We have the drones up, we have aviation out, we have canine out when an incident like this happens, we don’t spare any, any expense. We put all of our resources out there to support the chief of detectives mission and to keep New Yorkers safe. So we will have *** massive presence out there around the tree lighting, but throughout Manhattan as well until more information develops and we’re able to support the chief of detectives and what he needs to make *** quick arrest as far as where he got the city bike. We’re still working that through. Like I said, we’re, we’re pulling video from numerous locations, numerous sources and we have him on our timeline walking. And what we’re very fortunate is he has that very distinctive great backpack on. So we see him on one video clip walking and then another source of video him riding that bike. So we don’t have video or witness confirmation on how he obtained that bike, cell phone, cell phone was recovered. We will confirm that later on down if we, you know, do our forensic examination. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you for your time and attention.
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Police release photos amid the search for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO
Updated: 9:42 PM EST Dec 5, 2024
The masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” emblazoned on his ammunition, echoing a phrase used by industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday.The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation into the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.With the gunman still at large, police collected key clues Thursday as they tried to identify the killer.Investigators now believe the suspect may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta, one of the law enforcement officials said.Police also released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning. The images, showing an unmasked man in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, add to a collection of photos and video that have circulated since the shooting — including footage of the attack itself, as well as still frames of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand.Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the bus ticket to New York in late November, the official said. Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton across the street, blocks from tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center. The reason for the killing remained unknown, but New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.The messages on the 9 mm ammunition found at the scene of the shooting mimic the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims.It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for denying claims or complicating access to care.Investigators also recovered a cellphone from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city’s crime lab is examining those items for DNA and fingerprints.Investigators were still trying to obtain additional information from the phone Thursday, the law enforcement official said.A tip that the shooter may have stayed at a hostel brought police Thursday morning to at least two such establishments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos made public Thursday were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel.“We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement.Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card when he checked in at the hostel, said one of the officials who spoke with The AP.Employees who work at the hostel told investigators they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them or passing by the front desk and that the person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man pictured in surveillance images released after the shooting, the official said.After the shooting, police said the gunman fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park.Members of the public have flooded police with tips — many unfounded. Police searched a Long Island Rail Road train Wednesday night after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but they found no sign of the gunman.“We’re following up on every single tip that comes in,” Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson, said. ”That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together.”Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer, one of the law enforcement officials told the AP.Investigators were also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said.Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle.Police released several images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning. They’ve also used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search for the killer, while also interviewing Thompson’s coworkers, searching his hotel room and scouring his social media.Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years.His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson’s death.UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.
The masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” emblazoned on his ammunition, echoing a phrase used by industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday.
The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation into the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
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With the gunman still at large, police collected key clues Thursday as they tried to identify the killer.
Investigators now believe the suspect may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta, one of the law enforcement officials said.
Police also released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning.
The images, showing an unmasked man in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, add to a collection of photos and video that have circulated since the shooting — including footage of the attack itself, as well as still frames of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand.
Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the bus ticket to New York in late November, the official said.
Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton across the street, blocks from tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center. The reason for the killing remained unknown, but New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.
The messages on the 9 mm ammunition found at the scene of the shooting mimic the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims.
It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for denying claims or complicating access to care.
Investigators also recovered a cellphone from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city’s crime lab is examining those items for DNA and fingerprints.
Investigators were still trying to obtain additional information from the phone Thursday, the law enforcement official said.
A tip that the shooter may have stayed at a hostel brought police Thursday morning to at least two such establishments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos made public Thursday were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel.
“We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement.
Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card when he checked in at the hostel, said one of the officials who spoke with The AP.
Employees who work at the hostel told investigators they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them or passing by the front desk and that the person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man pictured in surveillance images released after the shooting, the official said.
After the shooting, police said the gunman fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park.
Members of the public have flooded police with tips — many unfounded. Police searched a Long Island Rail Road train Wednesday night after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but they found no sign of the gunman.
“We’re following up on every single tip that comes in,” Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson, said. ”That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together.”
Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer, one of the law enforcement officials told the AP.
Investigators were also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said.
Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle.
Police released several images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning. They’ve also used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intensive search for the killer, while also interviewing Thompson’s coworkers, searching his hotel room and scouring his social media.
Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years.
His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson’s death.
UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.
In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.
