New York police hunt for man who killed UnitedHealth government

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York police have been looking on Thursday for the person who shot lifeless UnitedHealth government Brian Thompson in a brazen assault outdoors a Midtown Manhattan lodge and was final seen fleeing into Central Park.

Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance coverage unit, was shot from behind on Wednesday morning in what police described as a focused assault by a masked assailant mendacity in wait. It got here simply earlier than the corporate’s annual investor convention on the Hilton on Sixth Avenue.

Investigators haven’t but named a suspect and have been nonetheless in search of a motive, the New York Metropolis Police Division stated throughout a press convention on Wednesday morning. They haven’t supplied a briefing since.

“This doesn’t look like a random act of violence,” New York Metropolis Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch informed reporters.

“Each indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, focused assault.”

Safety video confirmed the shooter behind Thompson, 50, elevating his handgun and firing at his again. Police stated the gunman arrived outdoors the lodge a number of minutes earlier than Thompson and waited for him to stroll previous earlier than firing.

The suspect, carrying a hooded sweatshirt and balaclava and carrying a grey backpack, fled on foot earlier than mounting an electrical bike and driving into Central Park, police stated.

Police revealed numerous pictures of the suspect taken from video cameras within the space, together with one with the gun raised and pointed towards Thompson and one other of the suspect fleeing on a motorcycle.

Different images captured a glimpse of his eyes, forehead and the bridge of his nostril as he stood in a restaurant, with a caption asking the general public for any assist in figuring out the person.

The killing befell on the morning of the town’s annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Heart a couple of blocks away, a televised occasion that pulls huge crowds. The occasion went forward as deliberate underneath heavy safety.

UnitedHealth is the most important U.S. well being insurer, offering advantages to tens of thousands and thousands of Individuals, who pay extra for healthcare than individuals in some other nation. Thompson, 50, had been the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), since April 2021.

The corporate has been grappling with the fallout from a large information hack of its Change Healthcare (NASDAQ:CHNG) unit that gives know-how for U.S. healthcare suppliers, disrupting medical look after sufferers and reimbursement to docs for months.   

Thompson had labored at UnitedHealth since 2004 in a number of divisions, in line with a biography later faraway from the corporate’s web site.

“Our hearts exit to Brian’s household and all who have been near him,” the corporate stated in a press release.

The police division in Maple Grove, Minnesota, the place Thompson lived, stated it had no document of threats towards him, and the Minneapolis Police Division stated there was “no prevalence” of Thompson in its information.

The capturing occurred on the outset of New York’s busy vacation season, anticipated to carry greater than 7.5 million guests to the town, in line with a neighborhood tourism bureau.