“Someone has been shot outside.” This was said by one of the participants at an investor conference for the company UnitedHealth, a global healthcare giant, at the New York Hilton hotel, in the heart of Manhattan. It was Wednesday morning, while coffee and breakfast were being distributed, and the shootings could be those that occur too frequently in New York, where someone dies every day from homicide (348 deaths in the last year, 370 in 2023) and dozens of violent attacks. Whoever said it did not know that it was one of theirs: Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the company’s health insurance division, the world leader in this sector. A man was waiting for him at the hotel entrance and shot him three times in the back. Thompson, 50, died shortly after. The attacker fled.
These routine New York tragedies often happen to other types of people and in other places. In the South Bronx, in East and South Brooklyn, in some neighborhoods in Queens. Not in Midtown Manhattan, on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street, between the headquarters of large banks, around the corner from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). And shortly before seven in the morning, when the city is already awake and this area begins to become a hornet’s nest of office workers and tourists.
“This was not a random act of violence,” Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, reacted shortly after the incident became known. “Everything indicates that it is a premeditated murder.”
The circumstances were detailed by police authorities five hours after the shots shocked downtown Manhattan. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tischwho took office last week, and the chief of detectives of this department, Joseph Kenny, offered the account of what was known at the moment about what happened. Thompson arrived at the Hilton New York hotel on foot, alone. It was 6:45 in the morning, he was arriving early for a conference that was going to start at 8. Based on the images from the security cameras, the suspect had been waiting for about five minutes near the hotel. He was a light-skinned man, dressed in a brown or cream-colored jacket and black and white sneakers. His head was covered by a hood and his face was hidden by a balaclava. “And a very peculiar gray backpack,” said Kenny, about a piece of clothing that could be key to his arrest.
«The attacker went towards him and continued shooting. It looks like the gun jammed. But he solved it and fired again.”
“Numerous people passed by,” Kenny detailed. The suspect ignored them all. I was just waiting for Thompson. «He approached from behind and shot him in the back. The attacker went towards him and continued shooting. It looks like the gun jammed. But he solved it and shot again. In a video from a security camera, a witness is seen a few meters away, who runs away as soon as the first detonation sounds. The attacker did not pay any attention, he continued focused on his victim. At least one of the shots found the victim’s back. Another hit a calf. The authorities found three nine-millimeter bullet casings. Also a cell phone, which was in the hands of the forensic experts to determine if it can help in the investigation.
“We can’t know if the attacker was a professional,” Kenny said. “But it seems that he is skilled in handling weapons because he was able to avoid jamming.”
Premeditated attack
The police arrived at the crime scene at 6:48, three minutes later. At that time, the attacker had already had time to flee from there and get on an electric Citibike, a bicycle from the public transportation system. He headed north, to one of the city’s tourist gems, Central Park. The suspect’s last location was on Center Drive, one of the park’s roads shared by morning joggers, cyclists and tourists in horse-drawn carriages.
Tisch confirmed that the attack was a “brazenly premeditated attack.” But authorities did not have any information about the reason for the death of the top executive of UnitedHealth, the eighth largest company in the world by revenue, according to Forbes rankings. The wife of the deceased, Paulette Thompsonmight have some clue. “I had received some threats,” he told NBC News, in full shock. “I don’t know, maybe due to lack of medical coverage?” he added about the origin of the threats.
Thompson led UnitedHealth’s main business area, health insurance. In the US private health coverage system, insurers can deny certain treatments, services or payments for medical expenses based on the insured’s policy.
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