Gunman Kills CEO of United Healthcare Outside Hilton; Cops Say Killer Left City on Dec. 4
A masked gunman appeared to be waiting for Brian Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel at around 6:45 a.m. on Dec. 4. Cops now think the killer, after fleeing into Central Park on an e-bike then boarded an Intestate bus on W. 170th and left the city. The FBI has joined in the manhunt..
| 08 Dec 2024 | 05:19
Face of Evil: Police on Dec. 5 released a new photo which they believe shows the face of the shooter in the horrific killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was assasinated outside the Hilton Hotel early on Dec. 4. The manhunt for the killer continues. (
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After scouring nearby surveillance video, police said the suspect was in a Starbucks on Sixth Ave. and 56th St. mere minutes before the shooting. (
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Police said the shooter appeared to be waiting for Brian Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Ave. at 6:45 a.m. (
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United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was shot and killed by an assasin outside the Hilton Hotel early on the morning of Dec. 4. His wife Paulette Thompson said he told her he had been receiving threats recently, but police had no clear idea who the lone gunman is. Cops did say it appeared to be a targeted attack. (
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The suspect, wearing a gray backpack, white sneakers and a brown coat was seen fleeing on a Citi e-bike on Sixth Ave. before entering the Center Drive in Central Park minutes after the 6:45 a.m. shooting that killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (
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Newly installed Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Dec. 4 press conference that the shooting appeared to be targeted. She is flanked by Deputy Commissioner Tarik Shepard (far left); chief of detectives Joseph Kenny (left) and chief of department Jeffrey Madrey (right). (
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A lone, masked gunman opened fire on the CEO of United Healthcare in an early morning shooting on Dec. 4 killing him outside the Hilton Hotel in mid-town. Cops think the killer fled the city shortly after shooting Brian Thompson around 6:45 a.m. outside the Hilton Hotel at 1335 Sixth Ave. near W. 54th St, where Thompson was preparing to deliver an address to investors at 8 a.m.
The FBI has joined in the hunt and the NYPD is releasing photos and videos of the gunman. The FBI on Dec. 7 offered a $50,000 reward for info leading to the killers arrest and capture of the gunman. The NYPD had already offered a $10,000 reward on the day of the shoot.
Jessica Tisch, the newly appointed police commissioner called the shooting a “brazen, targeted attack” at a press conference at One Police Plaza hours after the shooting and said the killer appeared to by “lying in wait” for Thompson who was walking alone from a Marriott Hotel several blocks away when he was shot outside the Hilton on Sixth Ave. and W. 54th St.
“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” Tisch said, adding that the shooting “does not appear to be a random act of violence.”
The killer, using some type of 9 mm pistol with a home made silencer attached, shot Thompson in the back from about 20 ft. away. Police said the suspect’s gun appeared to jam, as Thompson fell to the ground, but the killer quickly unjammed the weapon and fired a second and third shot one of which struck Thompson in the right calf. He was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police said three live bullets that were recovered at the scene contained the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” engraved on time.
The killer fled first into an alleyway, then hopped a bike and drove into Central Park. But police believe he made his way to the Interstate bus terminal on W. 170th St. near the George Washington Bridge and left the city within hours of the attack.
The New York Post first reported that the suspect stayed at a youth hostel on Amsterdam Ave. and it was there that police discovered a surveillance photo of the unmasked suspect. He arrived via bus from Atlanta on Nov. 24, and apparently dropped the mask briefly while flirting with a receptionist at the hostel.
While the bullet casings recovered suggested the killer might be someone angered by denied insurance claim, police said they did not yet have a motive. Tisch said “every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that three 9 mm shell casings were recovered at the scene and a cell phone recovered in the alleyway between 54th and 55th St, is being analyzed for forensic evidence. Police found a backpack in their search of Central Park which oddly contained Monopoly money and a jacket that resembled the one the suspect wore in the shooting. The murder weapon has not yet been found and police searched waterways in Central Park on Saturday and Sunday to find the gun or other clues.
“The motive for this murder currently is unknown, but, based on the evidence we have so far, it does appear that the victim was specifically targeted,” Kenny said. “But at this point, we do not know why.”
Thompson, who was married and the father of two, lived in Maple Grove, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. He had been CEO since April 2021 and earlier held other executive level jobs for the giant healthcare provider since 2004. His salary and bonus was $9.9 million a year. He and several other top executives were being investigated by the Department of Justice for possible insider trading.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband said he had received some threats recently, but had no specific details.
“There had been some threats,” she told the outlet. “I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
Brian and Paulette Thompson were separated and lived in separate houses about a mile apart in Maple Grove, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The shooting occurred only blocks away from the site where thousands of people gathered on the evening of Dec. 4 for the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at the press conference that there was going to be a “massive” police presence using drones and dogs during the lighting ceremony, which went off without a hitch only nine hours after the shooting.