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The executive, Brian Thompson of UnitedHealthcare, was shot outside the the New York Hilton Midtown at 1335 Sixth Ave. at around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, the NYPD said.
The gunman, wearing a black face mask, a gray backpack, and a dark jacket, approached the victim from behind as seen in a surveillance video obtained by CNN (Warning: graphic.)
The suspect's shots with a silenced gun struck Thompson, who was dressed in a blue suit, in the back and the right calf, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference.
Thompson was critically injured and rushed to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
The gunman had been outside the hotel for some time waiting for the 50-year-old Thompson to arrive for an investor conference he was scheduled to speak at in the hotel ballroom. United Healthcare abruptly canceled the conference after the shooting.
"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," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at the news conference. "This does not appear to be a random act of violence."
The suspect, a white man believed to be in his 20s or 30s, fled the scene on foot before picking up an electric bike that had been stored in an alley.
He then rode north into Central Park at around 7 a.m., according to the NYPD.
Thompson, a lifelong Midwest resident, was the valedictorian at the University of Iowa. He is survived by his wife, Paulette, and two sons.
Paulette Thompson said that her husband had been getting threats in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
"There had been some threats," she said in a phone interview with NBC News. "Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."
Operating through its two primary divisions — UnitedHealthcare, which offers health insurance products, and Optum, which provides health services, UnitedHealthCare serves approximately 148 million individuals worldwide. Its headquarters is in Minnesota.
It's ranked eighth on the 2024 Fortune Global 500 list.
Thompson became the company's CEO in 2021 after joining UnitedHealthcare in 2004. He had served as its chief financial officer before being promoted.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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