Thompson, 50, was walking to the Residences Hilton Club on Sixth Ave. near W. 54th St. about 6:45 a.m. when the gunman opened fire, cops said.
Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was killed by a masked gunman early Wednesday in a “targeted attack” outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown where he was expected to speak to a ballroom full of colleagues, officials said.
The shooting, police sources said, was caught on surveillance camera, and Thompson, 50, was shot in the back. The NYPD released images of the suspected gunman holding what appears to be a pistol, and another of him riding away from the scene on a bicycle.
“Based on the evidence so far, it does appear that the victim was specifically targeted, but we do not know why,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Wednesday. “This does not appear to be a random act of violence.”
The gunman arrived at the scene several minutes before Thompson arrived and used a silencer, surveillance video seen by the Daily News shows.
“He was lying in wait for several minutes,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said about the gunman. “Then he fired several rounds, striking the victim once in the back and right calf.”
Thompson’s family was devastated by the news of his apparent assassination.
“We’re still in shock,” Thompson’s mother-in-law, Paulette Reveiz, told the Daily News Wednesday. “The only thing I can say is he’s a good man. I can’t say anything else.”
Thompson’s brother, when reached, declined to comment.
