The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was a “premeditated preplanned, targeted attack,” New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference Wednesday.
Early Wednesday morning, Thompson was shot and killed outside of the New York Hilton Midtown, where the company was holding an investor conference. The masked suspect reportedly shot the 50-year-old CEO multiple times before fleeing, first on foot and then on an e-bike into Central Park. A manhunt is underway and the investigation is ongoing.
Tisch provided updates on the investigation and asked the public for their assistance:
This does not appear to be a random act of violence. The victim was in New York City to speak at an investor conference. It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes. And as the victim was walking to the conference hotel, the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds, striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf. Many people passed the suspect but he appeared to wait for his intended target. The suspect fled first on foot, then on an e-bike, and was last seen in Central Park on Center Drive early this morning.
She said that the NYPD had been in touch with Thompson’s friends, family, and colleagues, and they were “very much in our thoughts and prayers at this hour,” and the “full investigative efforts of the New York
Tisch announced the reward had been increased to $10,000 and asked the public for help, urging those with any information to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-8477 (TIPS). The police also released photographs of the suspect.
Screenshot via CNN.
“I want to be clear — at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack,” Tisch continued, pledging that the NYPD would be out keeping the public safe during the tree lighting later that night.
Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny gave an update on some preliminary details of the investigation, saying the police responded to a 911 call of a person shot in front of the Hilton hotel at 6:46 am, arrived on the scene at 6:48 am and found the victim on the sidewalk “with gunshot wounds to his back and leg.”
Kenny said that the shooter arrived on foot to the location “about five minutes” before Thompson, and stood
“The shooter appears to be a light skinned male,” said Kenny. “He’s wearing a light brown or cream colored jacket, a black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a very distinctive gray backpack.” The detective described the shooting scene:
The shooter steps onto the sidewalk from behind the car. He ignores numerous other pedestrians, approaches the victim from behind, and shoots him in the back. The shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot. It appears that the gun malfunctions as he clears the jam and begins to fire again.The shooter then flees on foot northbound into an alleyway between 54th street and 55th street. Once at West 55th street, the shooter continues to walk westbound on Avenue of the Americas, where he gets onto an electric CitiBike and rides northbound on the Avenue of the Americas toward Central Park, where at 6:48 am, we have the shooter riding his bike into Central Park at Center Drive.At the scene, we recover three live nine millimeter rounds and three discharged nine millimeter shell casings.
Kenny also noted that a cell phone was recovered in an alleyway along the escape route the shooter took. The police were processing the phone forensically and collecting video footage. So far, there was not any audio of
Watch the clip above via CNN.