Investigators are going through clues discovered at the location of the deadly shooting of the head of the biggest health insurance company in the world. The incident happened as he was heading to an investors’ meeting at a hotel in New York on Wednesday.
Shell casings found at the scene contained the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on them. Investigators found three spent casings and three live rounds from a 9mm handgun, police sources told WABC.
Tabloid media noted that two of the three words appear in the title of a book condemning the insurance industry and published in 2010, “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it” by Jay M. Feinman. a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School and expert in insurance law.
Brian Thompson, 50, heads UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group — which has more than double the market share of the second largest insurance company. He was walking alone down the street shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday, heading to the Hilton, where the investors conference was being held, as CrimeOnline reported.
The masked gunman, wearing all black and and distinctive gray backpack, appeared to have been waiting for him. Surveillance video showed the shooter approach Thompson from behind and fire a gun from about 10 feet away. Thompson stumbled and fell. At one point, the gun appears to have jammed, but the shooter quickly cleared it and kept firing.
“From watching the video, it does appear he is proficient in the use of firearms, as he was able to clear the malfunction pretty quickly,” said NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny, according to WABC.
The shooter fled into an alley, where he hopped on an electric bike and rode away. He was last seen heading into Central Park. Thompson was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
Police initially said that the gunman rode a CitiBike in the getaway, but a spokesperson for Lyft, which operates the CitiBike program, said the escape vehicle did not come from its fleet, WNBC reported.
UnitedHealth cancelled the investors’ conference in the wake of the shooting.
Investigators have released surveillance video from the scene and from a Starbucks where the shooter appeared a few minutes before the shooting. They also are looking into a cell phone found along his escape route and a water bottle and candy wrapper found near where he laid in wait for the CEO. It’s not clear at this point if any of those came from the shooter, although WPIX said the shooter was seen talking on a cell phone before the shooting and bought a water bottle at the Starbucks.
Another video shows the killer walking along 54th Street toward the Hilton before the shooting, WABC said. And Uber driver Amar Abdelmula captured a photo of the gunman running away after the shooting.
These are additional images of the suspect sought in connection to this morning’s homicide. If you have any information about this incident, the suspect, or his location please contact @NYPDTips at 1(800)577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/kUJr7l0nxZ
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 4, 2024
Eric Werner, the police chief in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove where Thompson lived, said his department had not received any reports of threats against Thompson or his family, WNBC reported.
New York police have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Thompson had been with UnitedHealth since 2004. He headed up government programs, including Medicare, prior to his promotion to CEO of UnitedHealthcare, where his annual pay package was estimated at $10.2 million, according to The Associated Press.
Thompson is married and the father of two sons. His wife, Paulette Thompson, provide a statement to WABC saying the family is “shattered.”
“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 greatly missed.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Thompsons are separated and living in separate houses a mile apart in Maple Grove.
