Live Updates: C.E.O. of UnitedHealthcare Is Fatally Shot in Midtown Manhattan
The executive, Brian Thompson, was shot in the chest in what people briefed on the investigations said appeared to be a targeted attack.
The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, was fatally shot outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, according to a police report and two people familiar with the matter.
The report said that the executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 a.m. at the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue near 54th Street.
Police officers were still searching for the gunman, who fled on foot along Sixth Avenue, the report said. He was wearing a cream-colored jacket, a black face mask and a gray backpack.
The police believe Mr. Thompson was targeted in the attack, which happened during the company’s annual investor conference in New York City.
Mr. Thompson had arrived early to prepare, according to the people familiar with the investigation. The gunman apparently knew which door Mr. Thompson was going to enter and shot him several times from mere feet away, then fled. The gunman, the people said, ran, jumped on a bicycle and pedaled away.
Just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, yellow caution tape closed off the section of West 54th Street just outside the hotel entrance. Inside, the morning continued as usual, with guests ordering coffee and arriving with luggage.
The only sign of trouble was a small group of police officers huddled in front of a check-in sign for the conference.
Mr. Thompson was promoted to chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, heading one unit of the larger UnitedHealth Group. He lives in Minnesota.
Brian Thompson’s sister, Elena Reveiz, told The Times she is still processing the news of her brother’s death. “He was a good person and I am so sad,” Reveiz said when reached by phone. She said Thompson was a good father to his two children. She said she was on her way to see her sister, and to be with their family.
On the second floor of the hotel, the company's annual investor conference continued seemingly without interruption as news of the shooting was just beginning to spread. Attendees mingled over cups of coffee, shaking hands and talking shop. “Someone got shot outside,” one attendee said to another as they made their way up from the lobby. Others took photos of the news crews gathering outside on their phones.
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Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota called the killing “horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota.”
New York’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, and Jeffrey Maddrey, chief of department, will hold a news conference at 1 Police Plaza at 11:30 a.m., the police said.
