Who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson? Gunman remains at large

Who has killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson? This question is baffling investigators who are searching for clues that could help them identify the killer. The gunman is still at large, and a manhunt is underway.

Brian Thompson, 50, was shot dead on Wednesday when he was walking to the company’s annual investor conference at the Hilton in Midtown.

Video footage showed that a masked man approached Thompson from behind, aimed his pistol and fired several shots. The masked man escaped on a bicycle into Central Park from where he vanished.

On Thursday, New York Mayor Eric Adams said the shooter used a silencer — something he’d never encountered in his 22 years as a police officer. “In all of my years in law enforcement, I have never seen a silencer before,” Adams, a retired NYPD captain, said in an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “So that was really something that was shocking to us all.”

The police have used drones, helicopters and dogs in an intense search, but the killer’s whereabouts remained unknown.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Wednesday said that while investigators had not yet established a motive, the shooting was no random act of violence.

“From watching the video, it does seem that he’s proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Police issued several surveillance images of the man and also offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.

Who Was Brian Thompson:

Thompson was the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance wing of parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc.

He had worked at the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company for two decades and led its insurance division since 2021. He was one of the company’s highest-paid executives, with a $10.2 million annual compensation package.

Thompson kept a low profile, with UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s CEO Andrew Witty taking on a more public-facing role that included testifying before Congress.

Thompson started his career as a certified public accountant and graduated from the University of Iowa. He lived in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove and was the married father of two sons in high school,

“Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” the insurer’s Minnetonka, Minnesota-based parent company, UnitedHealth Group, said in a statement.