EXPLAINER

Brian Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan, sparking a frantic manhunt. Here’s what we know.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday. The shooter is still at large, but police have released footage of a suspect.

Police called it a targeted attack, and the shooting also sparked a hectic manhunt in New York City.

Here’s what we know:

What happened and when?

• Thompson was shot at approx 6:44 a.m. (11:44 GMT) as he walked alone from a nearby hotel to the New York Hilton Midtown. He was scheduled to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel.
• Before the shooting, the gunman appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes,” according to police. Surveillance footage shows the attacker emerging from behind a car. Thompson was alone outside the hotel.
• According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the shooter approached Thompson from behind and raised his pistol just a few feet from the victim.
• “The shooter then walks towards the victim and continues shooting. “It appears the gun malfunctioned as he cleared the jam and began firing again,” said New York Police Department Chief Detective Joseph Kenny. The man fired at least three shots.
• Thompson, wearing a blue suit, reportedly took several steps, turned toward the shooter and then collapsed on the sidewalk. Two minutes later, at 6:46 a.m. (11:46 GMT), Officers responded to a 911 emergency call saying a person had been shot.

• At 6:48 a.m. (11:48 GMT) he was taken to the hospital. The suspected shooter fled north on Sixth Avenue and later hopped on an electric bicycle, which he rode into Central Park.
• At 7:12 a.m. (12:12 GMT), Thompson was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West Hospital.

Where did the shooting happen?

• The shooting took place outside the New York Hilton Midtown at 237 West 54th Street.
• This hotel is in a busy tourist district, across the street from the Museum of Modern Art and a half-mile from Rockefeller Center, where the city’s most famous Christmas tree was to be lit on Wednesday.

Who was Brian Thompson?

• Thompson, 50, was CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc.
• He was based in Minnetonka, where the company is based in Minnesota, and led the insurance department since 2021. He reportedly spent 20 years working his way up the hierarchy. Thompson was one of the company’s highest-paid executives, receiving annual compensation of $10.2 million.
• He kept a low profile, and Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc., took on a more visible role, including testifying before Congress.
• According to a New York Times report, under his leadership the company’s profits rose to over $16 billion last year from $12 billion in 2021.
• The company attracted attention and was accused of refusing to approve health procedures and treatments. In November, a lawsuit accused UnitedHealth Group of using an algorithm that systematically denied elderly patients rehabilitation services. The company’s size has also drawn the attention of authorities, who are investigating whether the company engaged in anti-competitive behavior.
• Thompson began his career as an accountant and graduated from the University of Iowa in 1997. He lived in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove and was the father of two high school-aged children.
• Joseph Kenny of the NYPD said investigators looked at Thompson’s social media accounts while also interviewing co-workers and family members. “It seemed like he had no problems at all,” Kenny said. “He had no security detail.”

What we know about the suspect

• According to images released by police, the killer was a man wearing a dark hooded jacket, a gray backpack, dark pants and a mask that obscured his face. Police also described him as a light-skinned man.

• He reportedly arrived near the hotel about five to 10 minutes before Thompson and ignored passersby as he lay in wait.
• He reportedly stopped at a nearby Starbucks on Sixth Avenue before the shooting. Several images released by police from inside the cafe showed a man apparently dressed identically to the shooter at around 6:17 a.m. (11:17 GMT), about 30 minutes before the crime. It wasn’t clear what he was doing in Starbucks.
• At around 6:30 a.m. (11:30 GMT), the attacker appeared to make a phone call as he walked down the sidewalk about 175 feet (53 meters) from where Thompson was killed, according to a report obtained by The New York Times published video shows.

• According to officers, he appeared to know how to handle firearms. “It appears from the video that he is knowledgeable about firearms as he was able to troubleshoot the malfunctions fairly quickly,” Kenny said.
• Officials also said he appeared to have used a silencer on the gun. Authorities recovered “three live 9mm cartridges and three fired 9mm shell casings” from the scene, Kenny said.
• The motive remains unclear, but Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that there had been “some threats” against her husband.
• The shooter remains at large. Police are offering up to $10,000 to anyone who can provide information about Thompson’s death.