United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Gunned Down In Midtown In Targeted Attack, Social Media Drags The Company In Response

Source: Anadolu / Getty / Brian Thompson

More news to prove we are living in what feels like a Netflix drama series: Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare’s Insurance division, was fatally shot Wednesday morning outside of the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan in what the NYPD is already calling a “targeted attack.”

Social media was buzzing this morning when breaking news of Brian Thompson, 50, was gunned down in broad daylight. The details, which read like the plot of a movie, claim a masked man approached Thompson, who was in town to speak at a conference Wednesday and killed him using what witnesses claimed was a “silent gun.”

Per the New York Post:

Brian Thompson, 50, was at the hotel around 6:46 a.m., arriving early for a conference, when a masked man allegedly waiting for the CEO repeatedly shot at him along Sixth Avenue before dashing off on a bicycle, police sources told The Post. 

Thompson was hit in the chest, prompting a desperate attempt by first responders to save him with CPR, harrowing video shows. 

He was rushed in critical condition to the Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

Surveillance photos obtained from the news site show the shooter aiming the murder weapon at Thompson in front of the posh hotel and then fleeing on a bicycle down an alley.

NYC’s embattled Mayor, Eric Adams, spoke about the shooting during a separate press conference, telling reporters, “It appears as though this was a targeted murder,” he added, “It seemed to have been clearly targeted by an individual, and we will apprehend that individual.”

Officials say no arrests have been made and are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

People Are Using The Apparent Assassination To Call Out United Healthcare

Social media is sharing their thoughts on the shooting. Basically, they are dragging United Healthcare for its reputation for denying coverage to customers, even alluding to the shooter being someone who was denied coverage by the company.

“I’ll be waiting on pins and needles to find out what demonic shit United Healthcare did to this man or his family,” one user on X, formally Twitter, wrote. 

Another user on X wrote, “The police will be investigating every American with a United health care plan.”

Still, this is tragic news; no one deserves to be gunned down in such a manner, but people do have a point about the United States health insurance system and how terrible it is.

We will continue to follow this story to see how this all plays out. Until then, you can see more reactions in the gallery below.