The gunman that shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is still on the loose over 50 hours later.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO May Have Hired His Own Killer—Former Police Commander
Published Dec 06, 2024 at 1:02 PM EST
Updated Dec 06, 2024 at 2:18 PM EST
UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting: New Details Emerge On Person Of Interest
By
Monica Sager
Live News Reporter
A former Maryland State Police commander suggested that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have orchestrated his own assassination.
While talking with
CNN, Major Neill Franklin told
Dana Bash that it is a possibility that Thompson may have hired a gunman to kill him Wednesday morning.
Thompson, 50, was fatally shot Wednesday around 6:45 a.m. on the street near the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Franklin believes the gunman knew too many details about Thompson's moves.
"There are times when people have orchestrated their own demise for certain reasons," Franklin said.
Bash asked Franklin if he was saying "it is a possibility that he hired someone to kill him."
"Absolutely," Franklin responded. "It cannot be ignored."
Retired Baltimore Police Maj. Neill Franklin (C) talks with reporters outside the City Circut Courthouse East during Officer William G. Porter's trial December 14, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Franklin spoke with CNN on December 6,...
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In the pre-dawn attack, Thompson was outside of the Hilton hotel, where UnitedHealthcare was holding its investor conference.
Thompson was walking toward the Hilton dressed in a
suit and tie when he
was fired upon by a gunman who appeared to be
lying in wait, police said. The suspect fled on foot to a back alley and then hopped on a bicycle in the direction of Central Park.
Emergency medical services (EMS) responded and transported Thompson to Mt. Sinai Hospital. He was in critical condition and then was declared dead at the hospital just after 7 a.m.
At a midday press conference from
NYPD headquarters, police said they believe the shooting was a premeditated and
preplanned targeted attack, and that the suspect appeared to be "proficient with firearms" based on
surveillance video that captured the attack.
As of Friday at 12:30 p.m., no arrests have been made.
A reward poster hangs on a light pole outside the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York on Thursday, December 5, 2024, where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot on Wednesday.... AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
Franklin said that while he is not saying definitively this is the case with Thompson, people have orchestrated their own death for insurance purposes, "maybe they fear some type of investigation down the road, maybe they want to leave their family in a good light."
In April,
Bloomberg reported that Thompson was among a handful of senior executives at the company that sold over $100 million in stock before a federal antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth was made public. The stock sales happened between October 2023 and February of this year.
UnitedHealth reportedly received notice in October that the
Department of Justice was investigating whether the company's acquisitions violated federal antitrust laws. The probe was first reported in February, causing UnitedHealth shares to drop on the news.
Thompson's wife, Paulette, told
NBC News "there had been some threats" against her husband. "Basically, I don't know, a lack of coverage?" she told the outlet in brief remarks.
Thompson specifically sold shares on February 16, netting him $15.1 million, according to the report.
Franklin said he knows the criminal investigators are looking into this theory as a motive.
Police haven't revealed a motive for the shooting but said it appears to have been a targeted and premeditated attack. The words
"deny," "defend" and "depose" were reportedly found on shell casings recovered from the scene, echoing a phrase that is popular in the insurance industry.
"This guy knew too much about where he was going to be at a specific time," Franklin said. "When you look at the timeline of him coming to that area outside of the Hilton and where he was outside of the Hilton, it's a very small window, very small window. It's not like he was roaming around."
Bash said in response "he knew."
"He was there," Franklin said. "He was laying in wait. Who would have that specific type of information?"
