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NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Reuters) – A police manhunt was underway on Thursday in New York for the suspect who killed UnitedHealth (UNH.N), opens new tab executive Brian Thompson in a targeted attack outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Wednesday morning before fleeing into Central Park.
Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit, was gunned down from behind in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant lying in wait. It came just before the company’s annual investor conference at the Hilton on Sixth Avenue.
The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were carved into shell casings found at the scene, police sources told ABC and the New York Post. A New York City Police Department spokesperson would not comment on the report.
The words evoke the title of a book critical of the insurance industry published in 2010 titled “Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.” The author, Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers University Law School, wrote, “Sorry, no comment” in an email when contacted by Reuters.
Authorities released a new photo with a clear view of the suspect’s face on Thursday, a day after publishing photos that showed his face partially obscured by a ski mask, and have asked the public’s help in locating him. Police have also searched a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side where the suspect is believed to have been staying, CNN reported.
Police have not publicly identified a motive, but Thompson appears to have been deliberately targeted, according to investigators.
UnitedHealth is the largest U.S. health insurer, providing benefits to tens of millions of Americans, who pay more for healthcare than people in any other country. Thompson, a married father of two, had been the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, since April 2021.
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