UnitedHealth CEO assassinated outside Manhattan hotel
On Wednesday morning, in front of the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, the CEO of UnitedHealth, an American giant in the health insurance industry, was shot. The masked assassin fled the crime scene on a bicycle. The search for him is still ongoing.
The crime occurred in the centre of Manhattan. According to witnesses, a masked man loitered near the entrance to the Hilton Hotel for several minutes. When his victim appeared, he fired several shots in his direction and then got on a bicycle and rode towards Central Park.
Who is the victim? It is 50-year-old Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a company that is part of UnitedHealth Group, an American giant in the health insurance industry. This company ranks fifth on the Fortune 500 list, an annual ranking of the largest American companies. UnitedHealthcare handles over 50 percent of all insurance claims in the United States, providing care for approximately 152 million patients and over a million employees in the medical sector.
He was to participate in an investor conference
Thompson was heading to the hotel to attend the annual UnitedHealthcare investor conference scheduled to be held there. However, he never made it. He was shot multiple times in the chest by the assassin.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and took Thompson to the hospital in critical condition. Unfortunately, he could not be saved.
The New York City police are not providing much information at this time. However, officers are convinced it was a planned murder—Thompson was not a random victim. As of now, neither the motives of the perpetrator nor his identity are known. The search for the assassin is still underway.
The police have released his description: a white male wearing a cream jacket, a black mask, and black-and-white athletic shoes. He was carrying a grey backpack.
Source: cnn.com
