What we know
- Police in New York City today released two new photos of a person of interest as the manhunt continues for the masked gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a busy New York City hotel yesterday, in what police called a "premeditated, preplanned targeted attack."
- Shell casings at the scene had "deny," "defend" and "depose" written on them, a senior New York City law enforcement official said.
- The gunman bought a water bottle and two protein bars from a nearby Starbucks before the shooting and discarded the items, according to a senior New York City law enforcement official.
- Thompson didn't travel with a personal security detail despite known threats against him, officials said.
Man sought in shooting may have traveled to NYC from Atlanta last month
Investigators believe the man sought in connection with yesterday's shooting may have traveled to New York City from Atlanta by bus last month, three senior law enforcement officials familiar with the case told NBC News.
Officials are working to see whether they can find a name from the tickets purchased for a Nov. 24 Greyhound trip that arrived that might help identify the gunman.
Executives seek more protection after CEO's killing, Kroll says
Chief executives and other high-level corporate officers are seeking additional security protection after the brazen slaying of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, according to a top risk management firm.
“We had CEOs and other executive-level and board members reaching out to us all throughout yesterday and today to increase their own executive protection, their own personal security around the clock, 24/7,” said Matthew Dumpert, managing director at Kroll Enterprise Security Risk Management.
“An executive is the face of the organization,” he said in an interview. "A CEO is the lightning rod that attracts the ire regardless of the product or services sold.”
Thompson was killed amid an increase in threats to people in the health care industry.
“The ire and the animosity that our front-line health care workers experience every day in the hospital in the critical care environment does extend to the insurance industry to a degree,” Dumpert said. “And it’s because a lot of those same red flag indicators of potential violence.”
Neighbor says CEO traveled frequently, lived apart from his wife
In an interview today, a business owner who lives down the block from Thompson's house in suburban Minnesota said the health care CEO didn't seem to be home much. Thompson appeared to travel a lot for his job, neighbor Jim Pitzner said.
Pitzner said Thompson and his wife lived in different houses in Whistling Pines, a leafy neighborhood in the suburb of Maple Grove. In recent weeks, ahead of Thompson's fateful trip to New York City, nothing that happened in the neighborhood struck Pitzner as out of the ordinary.
Whistling Pines is a small, close-knit community of 26 houses on one road. If there was law enforcement or private security activity at Thompson's house, Pitzner never saw it.
"We would notice if something stood out," he said.
CEO's family say they are 'shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian'
Thompson’s family said in a statement that they are “shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved Brian.”
“Brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives,” the family said in a statement obtained by NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis.
They called Thompson “an incredibly loving father” who “will be greatly missed.”
“We appreciate your condolences and request complete privacy as our family moves through this difficult time,” the statement said.
Police say bomb threat in CEO's hometown 'appears to be a hoax'
Police in Thompson’s hometown, Maple Grove, Minnesota, received a report of a bomb threat yesterday at residences on 62nd and 63rd avenues but did not find any devices or suspicious items.
Maple Grove police said in a news release that the incident appears to have been a hoax and is still under investigation.
Police looking into whether gunman paid cash and used fake ID at hostel
Police are investigating whether the shooter paid cash and used a fake ID to rent a room at an Upper West Side hostel, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
Lawsuit accused Thompson and other execs of deceiving investors
A group of current and retired Florida firefighters sued UnitedHealth, Thompson and two other executives in May, alleging they deceived investors while the health insurance company was under investigation by the Justice Department.
The City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund said it purchased UnitedHealth stock at “artificially inflated prices” from March 14, 2022, to Feb. 27, 2024, and suffered financially because of alleged fraud by UnitedHealth, according to the lawsuit.
The pension fund manages more than $300 million in assets for current and retired firefighters in the Florida city of Hollywood.
The lawsuit accused the UnitedHealth executives of selling more than $120 million of their own UnitedHealth shares instead of disclosing to investors or the public that the company had been facing a federal investigation since at least October 2023.
The lawsuit said Thompson sold more than $15 million of his shares in the four months since he learned about the investigation to when the probe became public — at which time the price of UnitedHealth’s stock fell “precipitously,” according to the complaint.
The pension fund said the defendants violated federal securities laws prohibiting such alleged deceptions and misrepresentations.
In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth after it had unsuccessfully sued UnitedHealth in 2022, saying its acquisition of Change, a health care technology company, violated antitrust laws.
The February disclosure, the lawsuit said, caused the price of UnitedHealth stock to fall by $27 per share, “erasing nearly $25 billion in shareholder value.”
The pension fund demanded a jury trial. The class-action lawsuit, filed May 14 in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, where UnitedHealth is based, did not specify how many people were part of the suit.
Since then, the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the country’s largest public pension fund, became the lead plaintiff, although the City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund is still part of the lawsuit, Robert Klausner, an attorney for the firefighters’ pension fund, told NBC News.
The investor with the largest economic loss must be named as lead plaintiff under federal securities law, Klausner said. CalPERS serves more than 2 million members in the retirement system and more than 1.5 million members in its health program, according to its website.
An attorney for CalPERS and UnitedHealth did not respond to requests for comment today. UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty and Stephen Hemsley, chair of the company’s board of directors — the two other defendants in the lawsuit — could not immediately be reached.
Former ATF special agent says shooter ‘likely’ surveilled the UnitedHealthcare CEO ‘the day before’
The NYPD is still searching for the gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan yesterday. NBC News’ Steven Romo reports on the latest, and former ATF special agent in charge Jim Cavanaugh joins José Díaz-Balart to weigh in on the ongoing investigation.
NYC mayor says 'this is the safest big city in America' in wake of shooting
In the wake of yesterday's shooting, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared: "This is the safest big city in America."
"Our crime has continued to drop year over year," he said on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe."
"Our transit system is one of the lowest levels of crime in over 14 years," he continued. "We’re removing almost 20,000 guns off our streets."
His comments came after the mayor said law enforcement was moving at a "steady pace" and "we’re going to have someone apprehended."
Police release photos of 'person of interest wanted for questioning'
Police in New York City today released two new photos of a person of interest. The pictures are from security footage that was recorded at an Upper West Side hostel where police believe he was staying.
Detectives visited the hostel and searched one of the rooms, NBC New York reported.
NYC mayor says authorities are 'on the right path' in search for gunman
In an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said law enforcement authorities were "on the right path" in their search for the masked gunman.
"We feel we're moving at a steady pace," Adams said, adding that he had been briefed by officials this morning.
Adams went on to describe New York City as "the safest big city in America."
Gunman purchased water bottle, protein bars from Starbucks before shooting
The shooter purchased a water bottle and two protein bars from a nearby Starbucks before the shooting and discarded the items, according to a senior New York City law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Investigators recovered a video showing where the gunman discarded the items, and police collected them as evidence, hoping it could aid in the investigation, the official said.
Former FBI special agent analyzes UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting
NBC News analyst and former FBI agent Clint Watts joins "TODAY" to break down the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, including the bullet casings that were found at the scene inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose.” “That would seem to suggest that there’s some sort of personal or ideological motive,” he said.
What we know about the killing
Thompson was killed early yesterday outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, police said.
He was on his way to speak at UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference when the gunman approached from behind and “fired several rounds,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference yesterday. Thompson was struck in his back and at least once in the right calf.
Thompson did not travel with any personal security detail despite known threats against him. His wife, Paulette Thompson, said he had been receiving threats.
“There had been some threats,” she told NBC News. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
Thompson, who lived in Minnesota, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West.
Despite previous threats, Thompson didn’t travel with security
The health insurance CEO gunned down in front of a busy New York City hotel yesterday didn’t travel with any personal security detail, officials said, despite known threats against him.
A masked gunman fatally shot Thompson, 50, in a “premeditated, preplanned targeted attack” outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, police said.
Thompson was staying at a nearby hotel before heading solo to the Hilton, on his way to speak at UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference, when he was ambushed by his killer.
“Speaking to other employees that traveled with him to New York, it doesn’t seem like he had a security detail,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters. “He left the hotel by himself, was walking, didn’t seem like he had any issues at at all.”
New details emerge on fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO
As the manhunt continues for the shooter who gunned down Thompson in Manhattan early yesterday, police are revealing that shell casings left at the scene were inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose.” NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports for "TODAY."
Words found on shell casings where UnitedHealthcare CEO shot dead, official confirms
Shell casings found at the scene where the UnitedHealthcare CEO was shot dead by a masked gunman in front of a busy New York hotel had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them, a senior New York City law enforcement official briefed on the investigation confirmed to NBC News today.
As of this morning, the gunman is still at large.