The wife of slain health care worker Brian Thompson said her husband had received threats before he was shot in Manhattan.
“There had been some threats,” Paulette Thompson, 51, said NBC News as she broke her silence in her first comments since her husband was killed on Wednesday.
‘I don’t know the details. All I know is that he said there were people who had threatened him before his trip to New York, she added.
Mrs. Thompson said she “couldn’t really give a thoughtful answer right now” because she had “just discovered this” and was “trying to comfort (her) children.”
She said police told her it was likely a “targeted attack.”
Brian Thompson, 50, was shot in the calf and chest early Wednesday by a masked man who appeared to be waiting for him outside the Hilton hotel.
Shocking footage showed the gunman approaching Mr Thompson from a few meters and firing, causing him to fall.
The gunman fired several shots during the ambush, jamming his gun, but managed to quickly clear the obstacle and continue shooting.
After the attacker crossed the road and disappeared from view, Mr Thompson was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead.
No arrests have been made yet.
Mrs Thompson said ‘there were some people who had threatened her husband’
Paulette Thompson, left, spoke to the media after the attack on her husband, center back
Officers are still searching for the unknown assailant who shot Thompson, seen here, outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan Wednesday morning.
Officers are still searching for the unknown assailant who ambushed Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan on Wednesday morning.
Authorities say he fled the scene on foot before fleeing to nearby Central Park on an electric bicycle.
Detectives investigating the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson reportedly found shell casings with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” engraved on them.
Police sources report this ABC News that shell casings with the cryptic messages on them were found at the scene.
Detectives are now trying to determine what the words mean and whether they could possibly point to a motive for the 50-year-old’s murder.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information.
The gunman fired several shots during the ambush, jamming his gun, but managed to quickly clear the obstruction and continue shooting, hitting the CEO in the chest and calf.
Police sources close to the investigation report this CNN that based on his reactions they believe the shooter was an experienced marksman.
Firearms experts who reviewed the surveillance footage told the station that he responded the way someone with training in law enforcement or the military would be trained to respond to such an issue.
Surveillance footage from a nearby Starbucks shows the shooter inside the establishment prior to the incident.
Police sources told ABC News that shell casings with the cryptic messages on them were found at the scene
Witnesses said the gunman waited outside the hotel for some time before the shooting, and that he knew which door Thompson would come out of before opening fire.
Surveillance footage of the shooting shows Thompson walking alone outside the downtown hotel entrance when the gunman steps into view and opens fire.
The terrifying video shows the masked killer pull out a large pistol with a silencer and shoot Thompson in the back, leaving the CEO to stagger down the street as he continues shooting.
The footage showed several bystanders witnessing the horror shooting, with a woman standing just feet away from the gunman when he opened fire.
Newly appointed Police Chief Jessica Tisch said the gunman “appeared to be lurking for several minutes” before closing in on Thompson.
Tisch added, “Many people passed by the suspect, but he appeared to be waiting for his intended target,” saying it did not “appear to be a random act of violence.”
“From watching the video, it appears he is skilled in the use of firearms because he was able to clear the jams fairly quickly,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Surveillance from a nearby Starbucks also shows the shooter inside the establishment prior to the incident.
As Thompson staggered down the street, a witness in the hotel lobby sprinted away
Police sources close to the investigation told CNN that based on his reactions, they believe the shooter was an experienced sniper
Sources said CNN that the man bought two power bars and a bottle of water at the coffee chain.
Authorities found a phone and a water bottle near the crime scene that they believe is the one he bought at Starbucks, and were able to offer them DNA.
The phone could also provide fingerprints and, if technicians can unlock it, give them insight into his identity.
Officials have yet to determine a motive for the killing, but sources told ABC 7 they are investigating a possible grudge against the insurance company.
Agents also searched Thompson’s hotel room, interviewed his colleagues at UnitedHealthcare and reviewed his social media.
He was also caught on surveillance footage hanging out outside and appeared to be on the phone ten minutes before he opened fire The New York Times.
Thompson was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel Wednesday morning, where he would announce United Healthcare’s hugely profitable 2025 financial outlook, including projected revenues of more than $450 billion.
Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealthcare in 2021, reportedly making $10 million a year, and for several years before that led the Medicare business within UnitedHealthcare.
Bullets litter the sidewalk at the site outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Manhattan where Thompson was shot
Thompson was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel Wednesday morning
His plan was well known, and witnesses said the suspected shooter even knew which door Thompson would exit through before opening fire.
Still, the investor conference reportedly began without interruption at 8 a.m. on the second floor of the Hilton until news of the shooting began to circulate.
Without knowing it was Thompson who was hit, one participant told the group that “someone got shot outside.”
CEO of parent company United Healthgroup Andrew Witty is said to have stopped the meeting at the hotel just after 8am when he heard of the tragedy.
He told those gathered: “We are dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members. As a result, I’m afraid we’ll have to end the event.”
A Hilton employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com in the aftermath that staff were shocked by the public killing on their doorstep.
United is the largest health insurer in America in terms of market share. They have been the subject of activists’ protests for allegedly systematically denying patients care.
One such protest earlier this year led to the arrest of 11 people outside United Healthcare’s headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Police had said in their first preliminary statement that the killer escaped to Central Park on electric bicycle and released a photo of the suspect on a bicycle after the shooting, seen here
The company made headlines in February after it was subjected to a cyber attack that cost $872 million.
Thompson was also investigated by the Justice Department for antitrust violations and charged with insider trading.
The department launched an investigation into whether the private company unfairly restricted competitors and had a monopoly.
He is survived by his wife and their two children who live in the family’s $1.5 million home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
“We are shocked to hear about the senseless murder of our beloved Brian,” she told ABC 7 after her husband’s untimely death.
“Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives,” she said.
“Most importantly, Brian was an incredibly loving father to our two sons and will be deeply missed.
“We appreciate your well wishes and ask for complete privacy as our family navigates this difficult time.”