NY - UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot in Midtown. #4

[kaen]

You are so right. NYC is amazing and I think utterly unique worldwide in this way. anything, any time, 24/7.

I would just add that post-COVID NYC is not really open in the way it was earlier in the decade. Businesses close earlier, including restaurants. Many businesses that can are more based online rather than in bricks and mortar. I have been saddened that it has changed as I am local.

With clothing and behavior, the tolerance for that has changed as well. It is not anything goes anymore as some of the more "out of the norm" dress and actions are scarier rather than just an anomaly or intriguing. The level of crime and lack of inhibition by many people to react/act violently has shifted how most people walk around or interface with their neighborhoods and in the city, especially in Manhattan.

 

[jimg77]

im kindof surprised as well....
Like the gun, I thought we would have plenty of e-bike efficienados chiming in.

I've had a difficult time trying to ID the bike, so many of them look similar and there's not really a clear picture of it. IMO

 

[Mr applebee]

I'm still leaning towards BT setting up the murder himself.
1. Scheduled it for NY so that it will be far away from his wife and kids. He knows it will be bad for them either way, but setting it up in NY is almost like a buffer between the two places so that locals don't have to deal with it, hence involving his family. Anyone looking to kill him would find it easier in the small suburb in Minnesota: less cameras, less traffic, less police experience in these kinds of killings. So much easier in Maple Grove, Minnesota than NYC, NY.
2. He was under investigation with insider trading. Maybe he was afraid the money would be taken from him, thus his kids and estranged wife would be left with nothing, plus the shame of him being found guilty and possibly going to jail. He would rather die than go to jail or his boys be ashamed of him. Plus he had life insurance going to them.
3. Shooter had no qualms about going to Starbucks less than 30 minutes before shooting. He had no worries about "missing" the timeframe of BT walking out, so he knew absolutely what time BT would walk out. How? Only BT would know as no one was with him. Even if a bellman would tip him off, he sure as heck would not be hanging out getting a latte and missing the chance when bellman would call him with the tip "Hey, he just got off the elevator." I think he was on the phone with BT himself who said "I'm heading down right now. And I've got on a bright blue blazer."
4. BT wore a bright blue jacket -- not something a CEO going to a conference would wear. Plus it was frigid. BT worth millions. Would have had a nice suit, plus overcoat. And I don't think BT had any kind of bag with him. Most people going to a daylong conference would have his laptop bag. I think BT knew he was NOT going to need his laptop, so he left it behind. BT was 50 years old. Young enough to be very techy savvy. My adult kids and my husband all rely on their laptops at work: leaving it in a hotel room while going off to work for a day in NYC would make no sense at all.
5. Hitman was in NYC for 10 days. I think he was given $$ ahead of time. Thought, well, I might as well visit NYC because they will be looking for me afterwards, so I'll just go early and see the sights. BT was in town for just one day conference, so it's not like Hitman was looking at BT's regular activity for ten days.
6. Bullets being labeled was a setup to let everyone think it's a disgruntled insurancee or their family member.
7. BT used to have security. Why not in NYC?
8. Hitman seemed too casual to be on a personal vendetta. More of a professional hitman who knew he had a job to do, but was experienced enough that this was not too big of a deal. If I was wanting revenge for a loved one or for myself, I would be focused on getting the job done: in Maple Grove closer to his home so his loved ones could experience the pain I had closer to them, not seeing the sights in NYC, not smiling at the hostel employee, not smiling at all. NYC is way too expensive to do a hit there and everyone knows there are cameras everywhere. Doing it in Maple Grove would have been so much easier and less newsworthy.

Surely he could have arranged for it to happen somewhere more discreet where his own arranged hitman wouldn’t be at as much risk of being caught at the scene, or identified by CCTV as he has been. I think from the shooters point of view, this would have been far too risky with too many needless/unknown risks to take into consideration. There would be much better ways to arrange your own assassination imo.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I have tried really hard to determine the type of bike and can’t find it. I’ve made screen caps and google searches, enhanced the images and searched, pored over Reddit threads on commuting/biking/etc trying to determine the make/model/weight of battery and the range and I’ve come up empty.
I did this because the made the (what now seems kind of loony) announcement that the perp was on a Citibike (big, white, obviously branded, etc)… but I’m still working on figuring out the kind of bike. Super curious

im kindof surprised as well....
Like the gun, I thought we would have plenty of e-bike efficienados chiming in.

 

[sds71]

UnitedHealthcare headquarters partially surrounded by fencing as hunt for CEO killer continues

Fencing partially surrounds the UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka after the company’s CEO was killed in New York.

www.fox9.com

 

[DS2021]

Im of the opinion that this was not an assisted suicide.

 

[ChrisM]

I don’t agree with that. There are plenty of people walking around in expensive clothes who wouldn’t be able to afford tens of thousands in medical bills. Some individuals save up to buy things they wouldn’t be able to afford on a whim. They might have a credit card for those purchases or could have inherited money. Additionally, it wouldn’t matter if you were completely poor or a millionaire if your health insurance company has ripped you off. You’d still feel the same sense of injustice and anger if, after paying your monthly premiums for that insurance, the company denied your claim and refused to honor their side of the bargain. I don’t think the guy's choice of clothing tells us anything other than that he likes nice things.

i agree too. one thought crossed my mind as a caveat somewhat - that's that the clothes, shoes, hood, mask, backpack, pricey gun, may all be an integral part of his plan as opposed to the way he regularly dresses (though he does have good taste!) i couldn't guess the relevance but a number of posts have noticed/ mentioned the nice (expensive) clothes. this may lead to an inaccurate conclusion when profiling him and now be in his favour; he may be somewhere riding a bus in blue jeans and a t-shirt while everyone checks upscale fashionable hotel lobbies. very few things indicate he's not meticulously thought things through, including how to be elusive. just a thought ...

 

[rainbowshummingbird]

A shot to the head would’ve immobilized him too most likely, right? so it is curious that he shot at the leg first. Almost like he wanted to immobilize but have him still be conscious enough to know what was happening..? Idk
Jmo

Makes me wonder if the shooter wanted to say something to him and that’s why he shot the leg first. It just seems more logical to shoot for the back because it’s the biggest area.

 

[99cats]

Holy cow I knew the backpack was a couple hundred but missed the jacket cost wow. I’m not sure what to make of that…seems unlikely there would be an anti-insurance or anti-greed/capitalism angle when just your backpack and jacket alone total a grand. But the again people are often strange hypocritical creatures

Jmo

I attended an absurdly expensive private college as a scholarship student, and plenty of my peers raged about the evils of capitalism, while wearing thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes and filming their protests with their newest iPhones - paid for by their corporate executive parents. My roommate was friends with a 'champagne socialist', who garbled quotes by Marx while she was waiting for her brand new Land Rover to be delivered, immediately after she crashed her 3 month old Lexus SUV. These were the kinds of folks who would happily cosplay poverty - I.e. "omg, I ate a cup of ramen noodles! I'm so poor, so I get it!".

I wonder, with his expensive coat and backpack, this shooter was similar. I'm partially assuming that he stayed in the hostel and rode a bus for practical reasons (less of a digital trail), but also for aesthetic reasons. He may want to be viewed as a modern day Robin Hood, and I'm not convinced that he a personal vendetta against UHC - I wouldn't be surprised if he arbitrarily picked up a cause célèbre, which might explain some of the theatrics used.

Another option is that he may be an ex-employee, perhaps higher up, that was fired and views the murder as some sort of moral retribution. I'd assume that NYPD is tracking down those ex-employees, but UHC is a huge company, so I think this could still be an option.

 

[fridaybaker]

Surely he could have arranged for it to happen somewhere more discreet where his own arranged hitman wouldn’t be at as much risk of being caught at the scene, or identified by CCTV as he has been. I think from the shooters point of view, this would have been far too risky with too many needless/unknown risks to take into consideration. There would be much better ways to arrange your own assassination imo.

Very much agree.

 

[eddie_van]

I attended an absurdly expensive private college as a scholarship student, and plenty of my peers raged about the evils of capitalism, while wearing thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes and filming their protests with their newest iPhones - paid for by their corporate executive parents. My roommate was friends with a 'champagne socialist', who garbled quotes by Marx while she was waiting for her brand new Land Rover to be delivered, immediately after she crashed her 3 month old Lexus SUV. These were the kinds of folks who would happily cosplay poverty - I.e. "omg, I ate a cup of ramen noodles! I'm so poor, so I get it!".

I wonder, with his expensive coat and backpack, this shooter was similar. I'm partially assuming that he stayed in the hostel and rode a bus for practical reasons (less of a digital trail), but also for aesthetic reasons. He may want to be viewed as a modern day Robin Hood, and I'm not convinced that he a personal vendetta against UHC - I wouldn't be surprised if he arbitrarily picked up a cause célèbre, which might explain some of the theatrics used.

Another option is that he may be an ex-employee, perhaps higher up, that was fired and views the murder as some sort of moral retribution. I'd assume that NYPD is tracking down those ex-employees, but UHC is a huge company, so I think this could still be an option.

the shooter isn't anti capitalist, just anti for-profit healthcare insurance. IMO

 

[whitelilac]

Updated timeline: abbreviated from https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/07/us/timeline-brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-killing/index.html

Sunday, November 24

10:11 p.m. – The suspect arrives in New York at the Port Authority bus terminal ( 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue) via a bus that originated in Atlanta. Gets into a cab that takes him to the vicinity of the New York Hilton Midtown hotel. Stays about half an hour.

11 p.m. – The suspect takes another cab to a hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave. on the Upper West Side.

Friday, November 29 – The suspect checks out of the hostel.

“It’s not your traditional check in, check out. It’s the kind of thing where if you don’t show up at a certain time, they automatically just check you out,” Kenny said. “We don’t believe that he went someplace else. It’s more of an administrative checkout.”

^This explains why he needed to check back in.

Saturday, November 30 – checks back into the hostel.

Monday, December 2 – Thompson arrives in New York

Wednesday, December 4

5:30 a.m. – Suspect leaves the hostel, possibly by bike.

5:41 a.m. – seen wandering around the vicinity of Hilton on Sixth Avenue between West 53rd and 54th Streets, goes back and forth before heading toward a Starbucks.

Around 6:17 a.m. – At Starbucks, shows him buys a bottle of water and two energy bars roughly 30 minutes before the shooting.

6:19 a.m. – video near a deli on West 55th Street shows the suspect walking and briefly stops by a pile of trash. places something.

6:30 a.m. – Around 6:30 a.m., video captures the gunman on the phone.

6:44 a.m. – Thompson, walks toward the Hilton after leaving his hotel across the street. Gunman is waiting outside.
The gunman comes up behind Thompson and shoots him in the back .. then walks toward Thompson and continues to shoot, stopping to clear a gun jam before firing again.

gunman crosses the street from the Hilton, flees northbound through an alley between 54th Street and 55th Street, and gets on an electric bike on 55th Street
heads north on Sixth Avenue toward Central Park.

6:46 a.m. – 911 call of a person shot in front of the Hilton

6:48 a.m. – gunshot wounds to his back and leg... taken to the hospital by EMS.

6:48 a.m- Suspect is seen riding an electric bike into Central Park at 60th Street

6:56 a.m. – Suspect rides out of the park.

6:58 a.m. - Seen on the bike at 85th Street and Columbus Avenue.

7:00 a.m. - He is no longer on the bike and is heading northbound on 86th Street.

7:04 a.m. - The suspect gets into a cab.

7:30 a.m. – Suspect is seen near the George Washington Bridge and a Port Authority bus terminal off 178th Street.
He does not exit

Friday, December 6

backpack found in Central Park that they believe belonged to the suspect

confirming the origin of the bag and tested ongoing

 

[Marzipan]

SO TRUE!

While BT’s blue jacket may not be NYC fashionista chic, it may be the height of luxury Minnesota outerwear.

Or it may just be comfortable for a five minute walk and BT was going to remove it anyway, once inside the Hilton.

Or blue was BT’s favorite color.

Or whatever!

This is the essence of NYC…we have every kind of person, with every kind of taste, coming from everywhere and anywhere, and no one cares.

I’ve been puzzled why his blue jacket has been a topic for discussion at all.

JMO

Resident of Twin Cities Minnesota for approx 50 years and have no insight on the blue coat. Agree, he just liked the bright blue. It’s a great color. So much more curious about the perp and witnesses.

 

[schooling]

As I said yesterday (just a few posts up) and Mayor Adam’s statements essentially confirmed it today…they have his identify. I don’t think this is a bluff.

Again, reasons they didn’t publicly announce it are obvious.

1) as Mayor Adam’s said, they don’t want to give away the game to the suspect

2) not mentioned by the Mayor, they likely don’t want internet vigilantes to put themselves in harms way

Im not typically a victory lap person (though my wife will disagree) but with all the Jason Bourne stuff and the genetic genealogy suggestions I just had to reiterate this. There’s nothing special about this moron (the suspect, IMO). Even before 9/11, NYC was one of the most surveilled places in the world. 9/11 cranked that up to level 10.

I think they’ve had his name since the night of the shooting. His capture or discovery is inevitable.

MOO

 

[TTF14]

Apologies if this has been posted already...

UnitedHealthcare CEO may have hired his own killer—former police commander

The gunman that shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is still on the loose over 50 hours later.

www.newsweek.com

Suicide by assassin is an interesting theory. It would explain the somewhat lackadaisical manner of the shooter....meaning, I wonder.... if you're killing someone at their own request, do you subconsciously not really grasp the risks of either getting caught/arrested for murder or outright killed yourself if someone--a guard, police officer, or civilian--was armed and in the vicinity?

Would "doing it because he asked me to" lessen your fear of getting caught? I could see how it might (erroneously).

As always, JMO.

 

[Fromeaster]

I think he wears Addidas running shoes

 

[wibbleflea]

“It’s not your traditional check in, check out. It’s the kind of thing where if you don’t show up at a certain time, they automatically just check you out,” Kenny said. “We don’t believe that he went someplace else. It’s more of an administrative checkout.”

^This explains why he needed to check back in.

Useful to know!

 

[bestill]

Authorities have the name of the suspect who assassinated United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson and are closing in, Mayor Adams said Saturday.

‘The net is tightening’ on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s suspected killer, NYC Mayor Adams says

Authorities are closing in on the suspect who assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan, Mayor Adams said Saturday.

nypost.com

“We don’t want to release that now,” the mayor said when asked if police have the killer’s name. “If you do, you are basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask. We revealed his face. We’re going to reveal who he is and we’re going to bring him to justice.”

If the have the name why did the FBI increase the reward? Even by saying you have the name you're tipping him off. I don't understand the reason for the mayor to be commenting about anything right now. All JMO

 

[BrianJohnson]

I attended an absurdly expensive private college as a scholarship student, and plenty of my peers raged about the evils of capitalism, while wearing thousands of dollars worth of designer clothes and filming their protests with their newest iPhones - paid for by their corporate executive parents. My roommate was friends with a 'champagne socialist', who garbled quotes by Marx while she was waiting for her brand new Land Rover to be delivered, immediately after she crashed her 3 month old Lexus SUV. These were the kinds of folks who would happily cosplay poverty - I.e. "omg, I ate a cup of ramen noodles! I'm so poor, so I get it!".

I wonder, with his expensive coat and backpack, this shooter was similar. I'm partially assuming that he stayed in the hostel and rode a bus for practical reasons (less of a digital trail), but also for aesthetic reasons. He may want to be viewed as a modern day Robin Hood, and I'm not convinced that he a personal vendetta against UHC - I wouldn't be surprised if he arbitrarily picked up a cause célèbre, which might explain some of the theatrics used.

Another option is that he may be an ex-employee, perhaps higher up, that was fired and views the murder as some sort of moral retribution. I'd assume that NYPD is tracking down those ex-employees, but UHC is a huge company, so I think this could still be an option.

He looks far to young to have been a high level senior executive, I would say at best he is 25, at that age he is unlikely to have more than a middle management/supervisory role in his employment if he worked for UHC

Also anyone he worked with would know who the killer is, I think it is unlikely

 

[Mr applebee]

As I said yesterday and Mayor Adam’s statements essentially confirmed it today…they have his identify. I don’t think this is a bluff.

There was no way NYPD didn’t already have this guys name. And the reasons they didn’t publicly announce it are obvious.

1) as Mayor Adam’s said, they don’t want to give away the game to the suspect

2) not mentioned by the Mayor, they likely don’t want internet vigilantes to put themselves in harms way

Even before 9/11 this was one of the most surveilled places in the world.
I think they’ve had his name since the night of the shooting.

MOO

Well surely it would be smarter to carry on pretending they don’t have a name, if that’s the case? Saying they know his name but they’re not telling anybody is just the same as letting the shooter know that they know his name? Unless I’m missing something?