UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated Wednesday morning outside of the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan, as he was arriving for a conference. Law enforcement officials are conducting a manhunt as the masked suspect currently remains at-large in New York City.
Police sources told The New York Post that the 50-year-old CEO was repeatedly shot at roughly 6:46 a.m. on Wednesday by a masked man who was allegedly waiting for him outside the Hilton Hotel. Police sources indicated that the man escaped on a bicycle after shooting Thompson.
A video shared by Collin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, shows first responders attempting to perform CPR on Thompson after he was shot. Rugg also shared a police statement, which read, “At approximately 640 AM in front of the Hilton Hotel… the perpetrator discharged a firearm striking the 50-year-old male victim in the chest and causing his demise.”
According to The New York Post, Thompson was transported to the Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition; however, he was later confirmed dead at the hospital.
READ MORE: Video: NYC mayor admits immigration system ‘needs to be fixed’
A surveillance photo shared by social media influencer Ian Miles Cheong shows the suspect pointing a gun toward Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel. Another picture shows the suspect fleeing the scene with a backpack on a bicycle.
“It appears as though this was a targeted murder,” Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a news conference on Wednesday. “It seemed to have been clearly targeted by an individual, and we will apprehend that individual.”
According to Fox Business, Thompson had been in New York City since Monday as part of UnitedHealthcare’s annual investors meeting, which was being hosted at the Hilton Hotel.
During a Wednesday press conference, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained that the suspect appears to have been “lying in wait for several minutes, and as the victim was walking to the conference hotel, the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds, striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf.”
“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” Tisch added. “The suspect fled first on foot, then on an e-bike, and was last seen in Central Park on Center Drive.”
Fox Business reported that a police manhunt remains ongoing as the suspect is still at-large in the city ahead of Wednesday night’s annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting.
“I want to be clear at this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned and targeted attack,” Tisch stated. “Millions of people will be enjoying the tree lighting tonight, among other holiday events, and the NYPD will be out there with them, keeping them safe.”
