The New York City Police Department on Thursday released photos of a person sought in connection with the deadly Manhattan shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following requests for the public’s help as they scrambled to gather evidence that might lead to the killer. The NYPD has advised that the murder wasn’t random but appeared to target Thompson, who led a giant health care provider employing more than 400,000 people and insuring millions of members.
We don’t yet know what motivated the midtown murderer, who is now the subject of a manhunt. We do know that something went horribly wrong as Thompson walked across the street to attend his company’s investor meeting.
It’s quite feasible that the shooter may never have even met the CEO.
With those types of numbers, the number of potential suspects is enormous, even if we do have a photograph of a person of interest.
The discovery of the words “deny, defend, depose” inscribed on recovered bullets and casings is consistent with possible anger toward the CEO or company, although that’s also inconclusive. A disgruntled employee might be seething over a recent termination, layoff or poor performance appraisal. Or it could be something else entirely. CEOs often become the personification of their company, for the good, the bad and the ugly. That’s why it’s quite feasible that the shooter may never have even met the CEO, but rather, identifies Thompson as responsible for some perceived wrong in which he played no direct role.
After I retired from the FBI, I became a corporate security executive for what was a Fortune 10 company and one of the world’s largest. Here’s what strikes me about the Thompson killing and what the investigation likely entails.
First, the killer knew where Thompson was. The investors meeting was publicly announced. That’s helpful for investigators because the shooter was probably lying in wait outside Thompson’s hotel, the conference hotel or even surveilling Thompson as he left his home to travel to New York. There might be security video, rental car or toll records that show the gunman’s travels into midtown Manhattan.
Second, shooters like this one often leak their intentions through the airing of grievances, real or perceived. That means UnitedHealthcare’s security team may already possess the killer’s name in their file of threat communications directed at their CEO. Rest assured the NYPD is scouring those communications. There might even be a letter to the company from the killer that has his fingerprints on it, maybe even his return address.
Third, in their press conference, the police said they recovered three live bullets at the scene, likely the result of the shooter attempting to clear his jammed weapon. I’ve seen partial fingerprints and even DNA recovered from bullets found at crime scenes. There was also a cellphone recovered nearby, which, if belonging to the killer, would be a wealth of information, particularly in geolocating his whereabouts leading up to the shooting. The police also advised that the gunman left the scene, got an electric bike and made it into Central Park. Investigators said they were working to confirm which kind of e-bike the shooter rode and whether the are able to trace its current location. In my experience, high-profile investors’ meetings and annual shareholders meetings are fraught with security challenges. Lastly, I’m surprised that Thompson, according to the police, was not accompanied by a security detail. Thompson’s wife, reached by NBC News, said that her husband had spoken of threats against him. In my experience, high-profile investors’ meetings and annual shareholders meetings are fraught with security challenges. The SEC requires publicly held companies to hold annual shareholders meetings, and they’re usually open to anyone who owns a single share of company stock. While this conference was for analysts and institutional investors, it was a still a publicly announced target for anyone with malintent. Maybe the shooter knew that Thompson didn’t use a security detail and that security would be tighter once inside the conference itself, for instance. Perhaps that’s why the shooting happened outside. This shooter will eventually be identified. We know the what, where and when of this murder, but Brian Thompson’s wife and family deserve answers to the agonizing question of “why?” Let’s hope they get that answer. It won’t bring them any solace but it might help corporate security leaders across the nation mitigate the risk of a similar tragedy happening again.
