welcome back to court TV live we continue to follow breaking news this is a live shot there in Manhattan New York after this deadly shooting of CEO of United healthc Care that was shot and killed earlier today Brian Thompson he was shot and killed this morning early this morning as he was making his way to United healthc Care's annual meeting of investors of course that has since been cancelled but police they really need everybody's attention and help in finding the suspect there's a $10,000 reward being offered right now for the shooting suspect uh NYPD has released um surveillance photos taken of the suspect in Midtown Manhattan he was dressed in all black with a hooded sweatshirt hiding his face pointing a gun in front of the hotel and then fleeing on a bicycle the suspect wearing a light colored backpack and again Crim Stoppers offering a $10,000 cash reward for information leading to the apprehension of this suspect in the death of Brian Thompson um the hotel where this happened they have also released a statement and they write this quote we are deeply saddened by this morning's events in the area and our thoughts are with the affected by this tragedy additional questions should be directed to the NYPD and the New York Hilton Midtown general manager also we should know told CN NN um that Thompson was not a registered guest at the hotel so maybe that's where their conference and uh their meeting was being held today maybe he was just passing by for coffee we don't know um we are just moments away from getting an update as uh individuals are making their way closer to the podium officials are going to give us an update on the death of the CEO let's go in right thank you very much good morning everyone in Midtown Manhattan early this morning 50-year-old Brian Thompson the CEO of United Healthcare was shot and killed in what appears at this early stage of our investigation to be a Brazen targeted attack this does not appear to be a random act of violence the victim was in New York City to speak at an investor conference it appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes and as the victim was walking to the conference Hotel the suspect approached from behind and fired several rounds striking the victim at least once in the back and at least once in the right calf many people passed the suspect but he appeared to wait for his intended target the suspect fled first on foot then on an ebike and was last seen in Central Park on Center Drve early this morning the victim was removed to Roosevelt Hospital where he was pronounced we've been in in touch with his family his friends and his colleagues and they are very much in our thoughts and prayers At This Hour the full investigative efforts of the New York City Police Department are well underway and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case the women and men of the NYPD take enormous pride in the work that they do each day and each night to drive down crime and violence in our city right now we are asking the public for your help if you have any information about this case call Crime Stoppers at 8577 tips we have increased the reward in this case to $10,000 I want to be clear at this time every indication is that this was a premeditated pre-planned targeted attack millions of people will be enjoying the tree lighting tonight among other holiday events and the NYPD will be out there with them keeping them safe for some preliminary details about today's tragic incident I pass it over to our chief of detectives Chief Joe Kenny thank you commissioner the information I'm about to give you is preliminary as our investigation is continuing this morning at 6:46 a. m. patrol officers from Midtown North precent responded to a 911 call of a person shot in front of the Hilton Hotel located at 1335 a.
m. Avenue of the Americas this is between West 53rd Street and West West 54th Street at 6:48 a. m.
officers arrive and find the victim Brian R Thompson a 50-year-old male on the sidewalk in front of the Hilton with gunshot wounds to his back and leg MrThompson was removed by EMS to Roosevelt Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a. m. MrThompson is the CEO of United Healthcare and resides in Minnesota detectives from Night Watch Midtown North Detective squ and Manhattan South homicide responded to the scene and began their investigation what we know is that the shooter arrived at the location on foot about 5 minutes prior to the victim's arrival he stands alongside the building line as numerous other people and pedestrians pass him by from video we see at 6:44 a.
m. the victim is walking alone towards the Hilton After exiting his hotel across the street we believe the victim was headed to the Hilton Hotel to attend the United Health Group investors conference that was scheduled to start at 8:00 a. m.
the shooter appears to be a light-skinned male he's wearing a light brown or cream color jacket a black face mask black and white sneakers and a very distinctive gray backpack the shooter steps onto the sidewalk from behind the car he ignores numerous other pedestrians approaches the victim from behind and shoots him in the back the shooter then walks toward the victim and continues to shoot it appears that the gun malfunctions as he clears the jam and begins to fire again the shooter them flees on foot Northbound into an Alleyway between 54th Street and 55th Street once at West 55th Street the shooter continues to walk westbound on the Avenue Americas where he gets onto an electric e City bike and rides Northbound on the Avenue Americas towards Central Park where at 6:48 a. m. we have the shooter riding this bike into Central Park at Center Drve at the scene we recover three live 9mm rounds and three discharged 9mm shell casings the motive for this murder currently is unknown but based on the evidence we have so far it does appear that the victim was specifically targeted but at this point we do not know why this does not appear to be a random act of violence we are seeking information from the public to help identify the shooter as the commissioner said we have uped a reward of up to $10,000 for information you're urged to contact Crim Stoppers at 1 800 577 tips all information will be kept Anonymous thank you very much all right well we're going to open up for a couple of questions uh we're going to start off with shimone CNN so it's about an hour and 20 minutes before the start of the conference is there any indication that he was going to meet someone because he I it's pretty early is he on his way to meet someone there at the conference he leaves the hotel dressed like he's going to be attending the conference we're working with uh his co-workers and other people that he planned on attending the conference with to get that information but as of right now he he's you know um in charge of the conference so we believe he was getting that to help set up and then just the city bike if I made do we know where that City bike is now does he dock it or does he keep riding it we still tracking video the last we see with him on that bike is in Central Park is there a way to track that bike through there are GPS's on those bikes we'll be working with the company all right we're going to move over NJ burin thank Chief were any words exchanged if so what were the words uh and uh I'm told the cell phone was recovered uh in an Alleyway on his Escape through uh does that appear to be connected to the we're working through that cell phone obviously we'll be processing it forensically as far as words being exchanged we do not have audio of the incident we only have the regular video but nothing from Witnesses nothing for well there's one witness standing right next to the victim when he was shot we're still trying to identify that victim excuse me excuse me that witness going to Aaron kki thank you um Chief was he checked into the hotel across the street alone was he in the city alone was he accompanied by by anybody did have any known enemies or or anyone that you've been able to find so far like I said we we're reaching out to law enforcement in Minnesota and we're also interviewing his his co-workers and family members to see if there have been any specific threats against him in the past as far as who is he in the hotel with uh with doing a search warrant in his hotel room right now that might lead us uh give us some more information we're going to go over to uh Dean Moses couple of questions one based on the surveillance um we've seen of this IND idual do you feel like the professional mentioned that need abil spell do you feel like this was a professional individual who who took this man life and also will it affect in any way Tre tonight um I'll answer the part about whether or not he's a professional that you know we have no way of knowing that um from watching the video it does seem that he's proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly but as far as the tree lightning I'll I'll leave that to Chief magic yes good morning Dean uh just really quick we don't this incident will not affect the tree lighting the tree lighting is slated to start at 7:00 p.
m. the show the actual lighting of the tree will be close to 10:00 actually 9:55 p. m.
