United Healthcare Sign - Photo by jetcityimage/Getty
NEW YORK CITY, NY (WSAU) – Police say the shooting outside the Hilton hotel in midtown New York City that resulted in the death of the CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance division on Wednesday morning appears to have been deliberate.
According to police sources who spoke to the New York Post, around 6:46 a.m., 50-year-old Brian Thompson was at the hotel early for a meeting when a masked man who was allegedly waiting for him fired at him several times before running away down the Ziegfeld alleyway heading east on 6th Avenue. Hotel officials confirmed to the outlet that the suspect wasn’t a guest.
The shots struck Thompson in the chest, and according to authorities, despite attempts by EMS personnel to provide him with CPR and other life-saving care, he was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was declared dead.
According to officials, an investigation has begun, and no arrests have been made as of yet. The suspect was described as a white man dressed in a cream-colored jacket, black footwear, a black face mask, and carrying a gray backpack.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette, spoke with NBC News about his death, stating that he had received threats in recent weeks, saying, “I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
UnitedHealth Group is the largest private insurer in the nation, employing more than 100,000 people nationally, including in Wausau.
Comments