Thursday, December 05, 2024 - The CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance division has been gunned down in what police called a “brazen, targeted” attack.
Brian Thompson, 50, was repeatedly sh0t by a masked g%nman
about 6:46 a.m. on Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown, said
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for
his intended target,” she said.
Thompson was hit in the torso, prompting a desperate attempt
by first responders to save him with CPR, harrowing video shows.
He was rushed in critical condition to Roosevelt Hospital,
where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m., police said.
The mysterious gunman, who appeared to be skilled with a
firearm, police said – ran off before hopping on an electric Citi Bike and
disappearing into Central Park, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny.
A manhunt was underway for the suspect as the NYPD and
CrimeStoppers offered a $10,000 reward for information.
The motive behind the heinous hit remained unknown, Kenny
said.
The gunman walked up to the hotel – where the UnitedHealth
Group was holding its investors’ conference – about five minutes before the
shooting, Kenny said.
Witnesses told The Post the suspect had been spotted near
the hotel, on Sixth Avenue, milling around.
When Thompson – who had been staying at the nearby Marriott,
according to sources – walked up to the hotel, the masked suspect struck, Kenny
said.
“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,” Kenny said. “The shooter then walks toward the victim
and continues to shoot.”
The shooter’s weapon appeared to have malfunctioned at that
point, but he managed to quickly clear the gun and begin to fire again – a sign
the suspect is proficient with firearms, Kenny said.
Thompson was struck by bullets at least once each in his
back and right calf, Tisch said.
The suspect was described as a white male wearing a dark
jacket, black face mask, and black and white sneakers. Officials said he was
carrying a distinctive gray backpack.
Kenny said the shooter first ran off through the Ziegfeld
alleyway between 54th and 55th streets, then hopped onto an electric Citi Bike
– a ride captured in another surveillance photo.
The gunman peddled up the Avenue of the Americas toward
Central Park, and was last seen around 6:48 a.m. biking onto Center Drive,
Kenny said.
Cops recovered three live 9-millimeter rounds and three
discharged shell casings at the scene, the chief said.
“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,” Kenny said. “But at this point, we do not know why.”
Thompson leaves behind his wife Paulette ‘Pauley’ Thompson,
51, and two children in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The family had received threats, Paulette
Thompson told NBC News.
0 Comments