UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot in Manhattan. Police say it was a targeted attack, and the gunman is still on the loose

Thompson was in New York for the company’s investor day scheduled for Wednesday.

Brian Thompson, CEO of insurance group UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot Wednesday morning in Manhattan, local news sources reported.

Thompson, 50, was shot outside of the New York Hilton Midtown, where the company is hosting its investors day. Police sources told the New York Post Thompson arrived early to the hotel around 6:40 a.m., where a masked man was allegedly preparing to fire at him in a targeted attack. Police say they have not confirmed Thompson’s identity.

Thompson was rushed to the hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound in his chest, and was pronounced dead there, police told Fortune. The gunman fled east on Sixth Avenue, and the police are still searching for him. 

The company halted its investor day around 9:10 a.m., Bloomberg reported. “We’re dealing with a very serious medical situation,” parents company UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said. One investor told Fortune attendees were seated looking at their open laptops when news broke during the event. People then began to get emotional and leave the room. New York-based employees at UnitedHealth subsidiary Optum were told to go home and take time off if needed. An email from the company to employees called the news of the shooting “shocking and horrific.” 

Flags at UnitedHealthcare’s Minnetonka, Minn., headquarters were lowered to half-staff.

Police are offering $10,000 to anyone with information on Thompson’s death and will release two flyers with surveillance photos of the gunman with a firearm and on a bicycle.

The CEO of UnitedHealthcare since 2021, Thompson was part of UnitedHealth Group, since 2004 and previously served as CFO for UnitedHealthcare’s Employer and Individual, Community and State, and Medicare and Retirement businesses. UnitedHealth Group sits No. 4 on the 2024 Fortune 500 list and No. 8 on the Fortune Global 500. It was the largest health care company by revenue in 2023.

Minnesota governor Tim Walz said the killing was “horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota.”

UnitedHealthcare did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

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