The search for the suspected assassin in the brazen Manhattan killing of the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, has entered a third day as police revealed clues to the killer’s identity but many facts about the shocking shooting still remain unknown.
Thompson was fatally shot at about 6.40am ET on Wednesday in front of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan, just before he was scheduled to speak at the company’s annual investor conference.
The killer, a person dressed in black with a backpack who was “proficient” with firearms, waited for Thompson in front of the hotel, shot him with a pistol apparently fitted with a silencer and fled through a nearby alleyway to an ebike and then into Central Park.
“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,” said Joseph Kenny, the NYPD chief of detectives.
A manhunt immediately ensued and continues, with police tapping the city’s enormous network of public and private cameras, and releasing information throughout the week.
On Thursday, police released images believed to be of the suspect at an Upper West Side hostel in the city, where he appeared to flirt with the front desk clerk and reveal his face. He used a fake New Jersey driver’s license to check in, according to reporting by CNN.
Additionally, police said they believed the suspect came to New York on a Greyhound bus that originated in Atlanta, Georgia – though it is unclear where exactly the suspect boarded. At the scene police found a cellphone, water bottle and protein bar wrapper they believe the killer may have discarded.
Although the motive for the killing is yet unknown, Johnson’s death has touched a raw nerve for many Americans about their often dire and exploitative dealings with the US for-profit healthcare industry. Conjecture about the motive for the killing was heightened by words scrawled on the bullets in magic marker: “deny”, “depose”, and “defend”.
On social media, Thompson’s death was met by an outpouring of rage at the private health insurance industry he represented, alarming researchers of political violence and putting corporate executives on edge.
“Now the norms of violence are spreading into the commercial sector,” said Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicago’s project on security and threats. “That’s what I saw when I saw this.”
Many compared Johnson’s killing to health insurer’s denials of care – with charts about denial rates going viral, and corporate security firms noting a distinct uptick in violence over the past five years. That rise, if accurate, would mirror a rise in violent political threats that researchers found began in the first Trump administration.
“There’s a lot of just pent-up outrage at this company and other companies that are middlemen that are standing between a patient and his or her doctor or hospital,” Wendell Potter, a former Cigna vice-president who has become an industry critic, told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
As Americans shared stories about the stinging treatment at the hands of private insurers, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Connecticut, New York and Missouri announced they would no longer pay for anesthesia is a surgery goes beyond a certain time limit.
Online, the decision was connected to general anger at the insurance industry sparked by Thompson’s death. Amid that reaction and alarm from doctors, the insurer walked the decision back on Thursday, citing “significant widespread misinformation” about the policy change.
The killing has also put corporate executives on edge. It is common for company heads to receive threats, as they are in effect the human face of a business. Thompson’s wife, Paulette, told NBC News he had received threats in the past.
Thompson was the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance division, a highly paid executive who earned $10m in annual compensation. UnitedHealth is one of the largest corporations in the world, with a market capitalization of $533bn, larger than household names such as Mastercard and ExxonMobil.
UnitedHealthcare has been criticized for denying care to vulnerable, chronically ill and elderly patients; using artificial intelligence to systematically and erroneously deny claims; is the subject of federal monopoly and insider trading investigations; and was the subject of a grilling in Congress over severe disruptions caused by a cyber attack this year.
A 50-year-old licensed accountant who reportedly kept a low public profile, Thompson is survived by two sons and his wife, all of whom live in Maple Grove, Minnesota, where the company is headquartered.
The Associated Press contributed reporting