Manhunt Expands for Suspect in Killing of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive as Police Believe He Has Fled New York City

The manhunt for the elusive gunman who killed the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, is expanding beyond New York City.In an interview with CNN on Friday, the police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, said investigators have “reason to believe” the suspect left the city. The chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, added that cameras caught him entering the Port Authority bus facility at 178th Street after the murder but he was never seen leaving, and that’s why officials believe he fled on a bus. Thompson’s murder, which happened at midtown Manhattan, has set off a multi-day manhunt as law enforcement searches for the elusive gunman. Officials maintain that the shooting appears to be “targeted” as they noted the masked gunman seems to have had an extensive plan and had been laying in wait for the chief executive.The gunman shot Thompson multiple times from behind, surveillance video shows. Police say the shooter then fled down an alleyway and used an electric bike to escape to Central Park. Police have not identified a motive for the murder, but sources told multiple news outlets that investigators recovered bullet cases with the words “delay” and “depose” written on them. The disclosure of the words sparked speculation that they referred to a popular phrase in the healthcare insurance industry, “delay, deny, defend,” when companies deny claims, which some commentators and analysts suggested could point to a motive.UnitedHealthcare is America’s largest private health insurance company, and it was expected to rake in revenues of around $450 billion in 2025, while Thompson was set to earn a $10 million salary. However, it has faced harsh criticism over denials of coverage. The company was hit with a class action lawsuit brought by the families of two senior Medicate Advantage members who died after their claims were denied. The lawsuit alleges UnitedHealthcare used an AI platform, NaviHealth, to deny the coverage, and the plaintiffs say the platform has a “90 percent error rate.” The company insists it did not use NaviHealth to make coverage decisions. In the wake of Thompson’s death, the health insurance company’s parent company’s stock is taking a hit. The health company’s stock is down nearly 10 percent from the beginning of the week, closing at $549.62 on Friday. UnitedHealthcare did not respond to a request for comment from the Sun about the criticism of its policies.While investigators probe the shooting, the groundswell of reaction online has taken a dark turn as users on social media have expressed either indifference at Thompson’s death or exuberance due to intense anger at the health insurance industry’s practices when it comes to declining coverage. Social Media Users Offer Dark Reactions To Thompson’s MurderOne user responded to the chief executive’s murder, writing on X, “The bullet hit the CEO outside of his allotted benefit window, so he’s not eligible for emergency treatment.”A Reddit user reacted to the news of the shooting, writing, “Well Americans, I’m amazed. Turns out you can in fact improve health care with unregulated gun laws.”Users also flooded a Facebook post by the UnitedHealth Group about Thompson’s murder with more than 42,000 laughing reactions. The company later restricted who could comment on its posts. A professor at Columbia University, Anthony Zenkus, posted on X, “Today, we mourn the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down. . . wait, I’m sorry—today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.”In another post, Mr. Zenkus said, “Murdering someone publicly in cold blood in broad daylight is never okay. Best we kill them by denying or delaying their claim for life-saving medical treatment so their families can watch them wither away till they die slowly and in severe and excruciating pain.”Mr. Zenkus did not respond to a request for comment by the Sun by the time of publication. A former journalist for the Washington Post, Taylor Lorenz, has gone viral for several of her posts about the murder as well. She also wrote an article titled “Why ‘we’ want insurance executives dead.” The featured image includes balloons and a gold star with a smile. “No, that does not mean people should murder them. But if you’ve watched a loved one suffer and die from insurance denial, it’s normal to wish the people responsible would suffer the same fate,” Ms. Lorenz wrote.In an interview with TMZ, she said she is not calling for health insurance executives to be killed but added she will not “shed tears or have a lot of empathy for somebody that has facilitated the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans through intentionally denying them coverage.”Ms. Lorenz did not respond to a request for comment by the Sun. Business Leaders Consider More SecurityIn the wake of Thompson’s daytime murder and the celebration online, executives of other companies are reconsidering whether they need to beef up private security. Thompson was facing some threats before the shooting, his wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News. However, law enforcement does not believe he had a security team despite the threats. It is not uncommon for chief executives of major companies not to have private security. Just more than one-quarter of Fortune 500 companies pay for security for their senior executives, according to the Associated Press. Since Thompson’s killing, private security firms have been reporting an increase in interest in security services from companies. Other companies, such as the Minnesota-based nonprofit healthcare firm, Medica, said it is temporarily closing six offices, and its employees are working from home due to security concerns. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group removed the photos and biographies of its top executives from its website after Thompson’s murder. CVS Health also removed images of its executives.

Manhunt Expands for Suspect in Killing of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive as Police Believe He Has Fled New York City

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