The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, was fatally shot Wednesday morning in what the police called a bold assassination outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel, sending officers on a citywide manhunt for the killer.
The executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 a.m. on West 54th Street near the New York Hilton Midtown, where his company was holding its annual investors day. The surrounding blocks, draped in holiday decorations, are a hugely popular destination for tourists and shoppers alike.
The police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who was sworn in just 10 days ago, called the killing a “brazen targeted attack” and said, “We will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case.”
The killer wore a dark hooded jacket and a gray backpack, pictures released by the police show, with his face covered to his nose. He apparently knew which door Mr. Thompson was going to enter and arrived outside the hotel about five minutes earlier, ignoring passing pedestrians as he waited for his target.
Surveillance video shows Mr. Thompson, wearing a blue suit, walking toward the hotel entrance in the predawn dim. The shooter, seen from behind, walks up and fires at least three times, striking Mr. Thompson in the calf and in his back with a pistol that appears to be fitted with a silencer.
The victim manages a couple of steps and turns to face his attacker before collapsing on the sidewalk. The shooter’s pistol jammed during the shooting, but the gunman quickly cleared the jam and resumed firing, the police said.
A woman who was standing nearby flees. The shooter ignores her.
The shooter fiddles with his weapon and walks slowly toward Mr. Thompson, who is crumpled against a wall. He seems to point the gun at Mr. Thompson one last time, then walks away. He breaks into a run only as he crosses the street.
After the shooting, he cut through a pedestrian walkway to West 55th Street and jumped on an electric Citi Bike, pedaling north into Central Park. Even his escape appeared unhurried; Citi Bikes are programmed to move a maximum 18 miles per hour.
The setting and method of the killing led detectives down several avenues of investigation. The hotel is one of the city’s largest, close to the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center, and the surrounding blocks are rife with private and city surveillance cameras that could show where the killer came from and where he fled, as well as images of his face.
The Citi Bike could also provide tracking information. Riders must use a debit or credit card to borrow a bicycle, and the departing and arriving docks and times are recorded. Armchair sleuths scraped Citi Bike’s data for nearby bicycle use at the time of the attack.
Officers also recovered a cellphone, and detectives were conducting a forensic analysis to see whether it was linked to the shooting, the police said.
The police were also exploring Mr. Thompson’s background for clues. He had recently received several threats, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation, but their source and precise nature was unclear. Chief executive officers of health care companies often receive threats because of the nature of their work.
Mr. Thompson was promoted to chief executive of Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, heading one unit of the larger UnitedHealth Group. He received a total compensation package last year of $10.2 million, a combination of $1 million in base pay and cash and stock grants.
In a statement, UnitedHealth Group said the company was “deeply saddened and shocked” by Mr. Thompson’s death. “Our hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him,” the statement said.
Mr. Thompson managed a division that offers insurance to employers and individuals. Under his tenure, UnitedHealthcare and its parent company have enjoyed profitable growth but have also been the subject of investigations into denials of authorization for health care procedures.
The shooting happened as Mr. Thompson arrived early to prepare for the investors day, the police said. The events are common for publicly traded companies, giving analysts who cover the company and large investors the chance to hear from senior executives and pepper them with questions.
Michael Ha, a stock analyst at Baird who was at the meeting, arrived shortly after 8 a.m. Andrew Witty, the chief executive of United Healthcare Group, made prepared remarks shortly after.
Then, notifications started to hit attendees’ phones that something had happened.
Initially there was confusion. Many wondered if it had been Mr. Witty that had been shot since he had just left the room — and they feared the gunman was somewhere in the hotel.
Mr. Witty returned to the stage to break the news to attendees. Ryan Langston, an analyst in the audience, said the room “quickly turned very somber, very quiet.” He added, “People, including myself, were calling their families.”
Outside, the shooting sent a jolt of grim reality into seasonal festivities in the surrounding blocks. Revelers and tourists looking ahead to the evening’s Christmas tree lighting in Rockefeller Center awoke to police tape blocking the shooting scene just blocks north. The police assured those planning to attend the lighting that a huge police presence would be on hand.
The killing shocked the industry in which Mr. Thompson was a leader. UnitedHealth Group, the publicly traded parent of UnitedHealth Care, has a market valuation of $560 billion, making it one of the country’s largest companies, similar in size to Visa or Exxon Mobil.
Mr. Thompson spent more than 20 years climbing through the ranks at its insurance division, which is among the nation’s largest with $372 billion in revenue last year and about 140,000 employees. There were no signs that his ascent was slowing. During his tenure, UnitedHealth Care profits rose, with earnings from operations topping $16 billion in 2023, up from $12 billion in 2021.
At United Healthcare headquarters, a cluster of tan-colored buildings in Minnetonka, Minn., a lone police cruiser sat parked outside a main entrance Wednesday afternoon.
Before he went to work at United, Mr. Thompson spent nearly seven years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, the large accounting firm. He graduated from the University of Iowa with an accounting degree in 1997.
Mr. Thompson lived with his family in a suburb of Minneapolis. He is survived by his wife, Paulette R. Thompson, a physical therapist who works for a Minnesota health system, and two children.
A knock at Mr. Thompson’s two-story house in Maple Grove, Minn., went unanswered as wind and snow swirled through the cul-de-sac.
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