It has all the makings of a dramatic new spy movie.
At 6:44 a.m. Wednesday, a masked killer shot and killed a billionaire executive on one of New York’s busiest shopping streets.
After confirming that he had eliminated his target, the hooded man calmly walked away, before seemingly disappearing into thin air in one of the most guarded cities in the world.
His victim: Brian Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare, who earned $10 million a year and suffered at least two gunshot wounds (one in the back and the other in the leg) outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Street. Manhattan Avenue. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
It appears to have been a targeted attack, police say, with the killer lurking outside the Hilton for at least five minutes before Thompson left his hotel across the road.
The executive had arrived in town on Monday and was headed to his company’s annual investor conference at the Hilton, where he was expected to announce a projected $450 billion windfall. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurance provider in the US.
Chilling CCTV footage shows the killer emerging from behind a vehicle and shooting Thompson, who did not see his killer coming, with a large gun which appears to have been fitted with a silencer. The bullet causes Thompson, a married father of two, to fall to the ground as a mysterious bystander flees.
The killer’s gun then appears to jam, prompting him to adjust the gun, before approaching Thompson and firing another shot.
At 6:44 a.m. Wednesday, a masked killer shot and killed a billionaire executive on one of New York’s busiest shopping streets.
His victim, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, suffered at least two gunshot wounds outside the Hilton Hotel on Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue.
On Wednesday night, images emerged showing the killer loitering in a Starbucks near the Hilton Hotel, minutes before the attack.
Police were called at 6.46am but the killer, wearing a distinctive gray backpack, had already fled the scene on foot.
Crossing an alley, he got on an electric bicycle and rode down Sixth Avenue until he reached Central Park. He had disappeared at 6:48 a.m. There has been no sign of him since.
Despite a frantic manhunt, the offer of a $10,000 reward for information and all the police power of New York City, disturbingly little is known about who Thompson’s killer is, why he shot him and where he is located. find now.
Here, the Daily Mail details the key questions that remain unanswered:
Who is the shooter?
Surveillance camera footage shows that the shooter was a light-skinned man wearing a dark jacket, a black mask, black and white sneakers, and carrying a large gray backpack.
The police still do not know his identity, or at least have not revealed it. They say it seems unlikely that he and Thompson would have crossed paths before.
However, the attack appears to have been premeditated.
“He seemed to be waiting for his target,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday. “I want to be clear: at this point, everything indicates that this was a targeted and premeditated attack.”
Of particular concern is the confidence with which the gunman appeared to handle his weapon. In fact, he quickly overcame an apparent traffic jam in the middle of the firefight. It has been speculated that he could be a trained assassin or at least have experience with firearms.
The type of weapon he used is also important, it is a pistol with what appeared to be a silencer attached. It is illegal to purchase or use a silencer in New York State.
Who is the mysterious witness?
Footage of the attack shows a figure, who appears to be a woman dressed in dark clothing and holding a cup of coffee, fleeing from a door as the killer opens fire just meters away from them.
We don’t know who the person is yet, but there has been no suggestion that they were involved or knew Thompson.
In fact, they seemed surprised by the shooting and hid in the doorway when the shot rang out, before fleeing.
No doubt the police will be desperate to identify this key witness.
Footage of the attack shows a figure, who appears to be a woman dressed in dark clothing and holding a cup of coffee, fleeing from a door as the killer opens fire just meters away from them.
What’s in the discarded phone and where is the shooter’s bike?
Police recovered a phone from the alley where the shooter fled. They have not revealed what, if anything, was on the phone, nor have they confirmed that it belonged to the shooter, but they do say they are conducting a forensic analysis.
The shooter fled on foot to Sixth Avenue, where he took a Citi electric bicycle and rode to Central Park, entering Center Drive before disappearing.
Police are working with Lyft, the taxi company that owns Citi Bike, to track the bike, which is equipped with GPS.
It is still unclear how the bike was obtained. Citi Bikes must be paid for and users must have memberships, which would mean data would be stored electronically. Of course, the bike could have been stolen or someone else’s membership details could have been used.
What was in the backpack?
Despite a massive ongoing manhunt with drones, canine units, helicopters and officers on the ground, police appear no closer to finding the shooter.
His last known location was entering Central Park at 6:48 a.m.
Given the large backpack he was carrying, it is possible that he carried a change of clothes that would allow him to leave the park without being seen.
Reporters at the scene described the atmosphere in the park on Wednesday afternoon as normal despite the grim news, with runners and walkers going about their usual activities.
Police have had better luck tracking the killer’s movements before the shooting, and on Wednesday night images emerged of him loitering at a Starbucks near the Hilton Hotel and minutes before the attack.
It is not clear whether he asked for something to eat or drink, or how long he remained there. In the images he appears to be holding a small object in his hands.
Police are clearly confident that the shooter will be captured or will have fled the immediate area, as the annual Christmas tree lighting at the iconic Rockefeller Center, just a few blocks away, was allowed to take place Wednesday night. distance. Thousands of New Yorkers and tourists attend each year.
His last known location was when entering Central Park at 6:48 am. Given the large backpack he was carrying, it is possible that he was carrying a change of clothes that would allow him to leave the park without being seen. (Pictured: Killer fleeing the scene on a bicycle. His backpack is clearly visible.)
Thompson is survived by his wife Paulette, 51, and their two children, who live in the family’s $1.5 million home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Police on the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan after Wednesday’s shooting.
What was the reason?
An official motive for the shooting has not yet been revealed, but there is widespread speculation online that the shooting was related to Thompson’s work as a director of a controversial health insurance company.
Thompson’s wife Paulette, 51, with whom he lived in a $1.5 million home in Minnesota, told NBC that her husband had been receiving threats in the days before the shooting.
‘There were some threats… Basically, I don’t know, lack of (insurance) coverage?’ She said, “I don’t know the details.” I only know that he said that there were some people who had been threatening him.
“I can’t really give a thoughtful answer right now,” he added, “I just found out about this and I’m trying to comfort my kids.”
The couple shared two children.
Despite it being such a high-profile job, Thompson appears to have kept a low profile and was known to few outside the industry.
He was named CEO in 2021, leading United’s division that handles Medicare and Medicaid, overseeing health coverage for more than 49 million Americans and generating $281 billion in revenue for the company in 2023.
The Justice Department launched an investigation into the company last year, investigating whether the insurer was unfairly restricting its competitors and running a monopoly.
In May of this year, Thompson and other executives were subsequently sued for alleged fraud and insider trading. A complaint filed by a pension fund alleged that Thompson had failed to inform investors about the Justice Department investigation before dumping 31 percent of his personal company’s shares, reaping $15.1 million in profits.
The complaint alleges that Thompson and other executives sold more than $100 million in company stock during the four-month period when insiders were aware of the federal investigation, but the public was not.
In February of this year, United was hit by one of the largest healthcare data breaches in US history, with the company estimating that up to a third of Americans’ private data (potentially including numbers Security) had been compromised.