Words engraved on bullet shells provide clue to fatal CEO shooting

Photo: Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

The day after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside of a Manhattan hotel, details are emerging as to why he may have been targeted.

From comments by Thompson's wife Paulette Thompson, and words written on bullet shell casings taken from the scene, it appears Thompson may have been singled out based on his role as CEO of the nation's largest insurance company.

Paulette Thompson said her husband had been receiving threats, perhaps about lack of coverage, according to NBC News.

"There had been some threats," she told NBC News. "Basically, I don't know, a lack of coverage? I don't know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."

The at-large suspect who fatally shot Thompson outside a Midtown hotel Wednesday morning may have left a message on the bullets he used to kill the executive, police sources said, according to the New York Post. The possible messages include the words "deny," "depose" and "defend" engraved on live rounds and shell casings found at the scene.

The words are similar to a 2010 book condemning the insurance business called "Delay, Deny, Defend," subtitled "Why insurance companies don't pay claims and what you can do about it," by Jay M. Feinman, a distinguished professor of law at Rutgers Law School. 

Thompson was shot in the chest and leg around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday morning as he walked down the sidewalk to the New York Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan to attend a UnitedHealth Investors Conference. Video at the scene shows the shooter wearing a hooded jacket, his face covered and taking what appears to be a professional, aimed stance at Thompson as the executive walked by. 

The suspect reportedly waited for Thompson at the scene for five or 10 minutes. Some have called the killing of the executive an assassination. 

Thompson, 50, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

The shooter reportedly left on foot and then on an electric bike, being last seen in Central Park a few blocks away, according to the New York Police Department.

The NYPD has described the killer as a light-skinned male wearing a cream-colored jacket, a black face mask and a distinctive grey backpack.

The backpack is the subject of police scrutiny, as Starbucks provided footage taken before the shooting of a male wearing a similar backpack and mask at the store counter. Police are reportedly checking the trash there for cups.

Thompson reportedly was not accompanied by a bodyguard or security staff. UnitedHealth Group did not respond to a question of whether security coverage for its executives would change or be enhanced following the shooting.

UnitedHealth Group, parent company to UnitedHealthcare, issued this statement: "We are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him. We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time. Our hearts go out to Brian's family and all who were close to him."

Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org