• by Tanya Gazdik , December 4, 2024

New York City police are hunting for the killer who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at close range early Wednesday before an investor’s meeting. 

Police have released “photos of the man they say could be the shooter, showing what appears to be a white man in a hooded jacket with a backpack and a covering obscuring the bottom half of his face,” according to NBC News.

Thompson, 50, was repeatedly shot in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, officials said at a midday news conference. Police called it a “brazen, targeted attack” by a chillingly methodical killer who used a firearm with a silencer, according to the New York Post. 

Exclusive footage obtained by The Washington Post appears to show the suspect exiting the 57th Street F train station timestamped at 6:15 a.m. CNN has posted a graphic video that shows the shooting. 

“The individual — wearing clothing, shoes and a backpack that match images released by the NYPD — is shown leaving the station and walking briskly down the east side of Sixth Avenue toward the Hilton Hotel, where police say they responded to a call of a person being shot at 6:46 a.m,” according to The Washington Post.  

Authorities have shared other photos of the suspect in a Starbucks located around 100 feet south of the F subway exit.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the shooting “does not appear to be a random act of violence.”  

“Who is the cyclist assassin now on the run,” asks The Daily Beast. “An aggrieved health insurance policy holder or a cold-blooded hit man? Or will some other profile and motive be revealed?”

Thompson was scheduled to speak at a UnitedHealthCare investor conference in the Hilton and his schedule was widely known.

A motive is not yet known, but Thompson's wife told NBC News that the CEO had previously received threats.

"We are shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian," Paulette Thompson wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives." 

"More importantly, Brian was an incredibly loving father to our two sons and will be greatly missed. We appreciate your well-wishes and request complete privacy as our family moves through this difficult time.”

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, where UnitedHealth Group is based and where Thompson lived and worked, called the killing “horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota” and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said the shooting was a “horrifying and shocking act of violence,” according to Forbes.