Police place bullet casing markers outside of a Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City Wednesday morning, calling it a "brazen targeted attack," the New York Times reported.
Thompson was shot just before 7 a.m. outside a Midtown hotel where his company was holding an investors meeting. Thompson’s killer escaped on an electric Citi Bike and was last spotted in Central Park, investigators said. The suspect was described as a white male wearing a brown coat and black face mask, and carrying a gray backpack, the New York Post reported.
Police said Thompson’s shooter was "lying in wait" for several minutes. "Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target," officials added.
Thompson’s wife said on Wednesday that her husband had been receiving threats before he was killed.
"There had been some threats," Paulette Thompson told NBC News over the phone. "I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."
New York City mayor Eric Adams (D.) told reporters Thompson’s killing appeared to be a "targeted murder," not a random act of violence.
"It seemed to have been clearly targeted by an individual, and we will apprehend that individual," he said.
Authorities have not yet made any arrests.
