The killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO follows years of mounting fear about executive safety

NYPD officers standing in the street behind caution tape (Credit: Kyle Mazza—Anadolu/Getty Images)

The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down this morning in Manhattan. Brian Thompson, 50, was accosted outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown, and later pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West hospital. 

Police say that the killing was a targeted attack rather than a random act of violence. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the shooting a “premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.” The shooter was captured on camera, and last seen in Central Park. They have not been apprehended. The motive for the murder is unknown, but Thompson’s wife told NBC News that “there were some people that had been threatening him.”