The masked assassin who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a luxury Midtown hotel on Wednesday morning was captured seemingly talking on the phone moments before the murder.
A man wearing the same dark-colored jacket, hat, ski mask and gray backpack was seen holding a phone to his right ear as he walked east on 54th Street toward the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue at around 6:30 a.m., less than 15 minutes before the murder, surveillance footage obtained by ABC 7 shows.
The killer arrived at the scene about five minutes before the shooting, lying in wait for his target, the NYPD said.
Disturbing surveillance video obtained by The Post shows the cold-blooded gunman firing multiple rounds into Thompson as he arrived at the luxury hotel at about 6:46 a.m. to host an investors’ conference that morning.
Law enforcement sources said the masked gunman used a silencer and appeared to be an experienced shooter as he pumped bullets into Thompson, causing him to stumble and collapse on the pavement.
His gun appeared to jam during the shooting, but the killer was able to clear it with ease and continue firing as the CEO tried to crawl away, according to sources and the footage.
The suspect then ran into an alleyway and hopped on an e-bike, which he rode north along Sixth Avenue into Central Park, where surveillance camera coverage is spotty, police said.
The 50-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO, a married dad, was rushed to Mount Sinai West Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
The shooter remains on the loose as of early Thursday.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said at a press conference Wednesday that it appeared “the victim was specifically targeted.”
“At this point, we do not know why. This does not appear to be a random act of violence,” Kenny said.
At the scene, cops recovered a slew of evidence, including three live 9-millimeter rounds and three discharged casings in front of the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson murdered outside NYC hotel
Brian Thompson, the CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare was gunned down Wednesday outside a luxury Midtown hotel in a “brazen, targeted attack,” police said.
The methodical killer used a firearm with a silencer outside the Hilton hotel along Sixth Avenue.
The gunman fired at Thompson multiple times, striking his back and right calf before fleeing the scene on foot
The NYPD released a new photo of the hooded suspect standing in front of the counter at the Starbucks at W. 56th Street and 6th Avenue, just minutes away from the Hilton hotel where he gunned down Thompson, 50.
Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justice
Thompson’s wife, Paulette, said that her husband had been getting threats before he was killed.
The NYPD is investigating a possible message — which appears to include the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” — engraved on live rounds and shell casings left behind by the masked assassin.
Investigators also discovered a phone in an alleyway near the Hilton they believe belongs to the killer, the sources said.
Police have obtained a search warrant to comb through the phone’s contents.
The suspect was also seen buying coffee, a water bottle, and two PowerBars at a nearby Starbucks before the killing and tossed his bottle and coffee cup in a trash can.
Cops have dug out the evidence from the garbage, according to sources.
The NYPD is also investigating a possible message — that appears to include the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” — engraved on the live rounds and shell casings left behind by the masked assassin.
Sources said several of the pieces of evidence each contained one word, indicating the killer may have been trying to leave a message.
Thompson was well-respected in his field, raking in a salary of nearly $9.9 million a year to head the nation’s largest private health insurer.
He was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021 after being with the company since 2004.
Thompson was one of the senior executives at the company, including UnitedHealth Group chairman Stephen Helmsley, Chief People Officer Erin McSweeney, and Chief Accounting Officer Tom Roos, who were under investigation by the Department of Justice.
The executives were being investigated after netting a combined $101.5 million from stock sales over four months before the public became aware of a federal antitrust investigation.
Thompon exercised stock options and sold shares worth $15.1 million on Feb. 16, less than two weeks before news of the federal antitrust probe went public. Helmsley personally netted just shy of $85 million.
