New York [US], December 4 : The Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare, one of America's largest health insurers, was fatally shot in the chest in Manhattan, New York on Wednesday morning, the New York Times reported.
According to the New York Times, the police report said that the executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 a.m. (US Local Time).
New York Times reported that Thompson was taken to the Mount Sinai West Hospital in critical condition. It was reported that police officers continued searching for the gunman, who fled the scene.
The police believe the attack on the CEO seems to be a targeted one as it happened during UnitedHealthcare's annual investor conference in New York City.
According to the New York Times, Thompson had arrived early to prepare, according to the people familiar with the investigation. The gunman apparently knew which door Thompson was going to enter and shot him several times from mere feet away, then fled. The gunman, the people said, ran, jumped on a bicycle and pedalled away.
It was reported that after 9 am (US Time) on Wednesday, yellow caution tape closed off the section of West 54th Street just outside the hotel entrance. The only sign of trouble was a small group of police officers huddled in front of a check-in sign for the conference.
According to the official website of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021. UnitedHealthcare employs more than 100,000 people across the United States and globally, is part of UnitedHealth Group, ranked fifth in the Fortune 500.
Prior to this role, Brian served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare's government programs business including Medicare & Retirement, the largest business dedicated to the health and well-being needs of seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries; and Community & State, which provides health care products and services to states that care for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.
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