United Healthcare CEO Murdered in NY

The horrifying killing of CEO of United Healthcare Brian Thompson on a street in New York has many shocked, shaken and puzzled.

The attack, according to the NY Police Department, is a “brazen, targeted attack” and “premeditated, preplanned”, noted the NYPD newly minted Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Thompson was based in Minneapolis, and he was in town for the United Healthcare, America’s largest health insurance company for a general shareholder meeting. The senseless event happened minutes before seven in the morning on a midtown NY street in front of a hotel, where Thomson walked towards the meeting venue.

A gunman, waiting for a couple of minutes before the murder and watching several people before approached Mr. Thompson from behind, shot him in the leg and chest, and fled the scene on foot and later on a shared e-bike. The suspect, captured by surveillance cameras near New York Central Park, was a man in a hoodie outfit. The suspect is still at large and citywide manhunt is ongoing as of the morning on Dec.5.

United Healthcare, a part of the United Healthcare group, has the largest physician network in the U.S. The motives behind the murder are still unknown.

NY has seen a spike in violence in recent days. In mid-November, a man with a history of mental health issues fatally stabbed three people in Manhattan, and the police believed the stabbings were connected. Despite that overall crime index in New York City continued to drop dramatically for a 10 straight month in October 2024, led by steep declines in felony assaults.