Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Appears to be Targeted Hit

When the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was first reported, it sounded like a random murder on the streets of New York City.

Now that video has surfaced of the killing, there seems little doubt this was a targeted assassination attempt.

The Murder

The video of the murder is disturbing, but it clearly makes me believe this was an assassination attempt.

The shooter sees Thompon walk toward a hotel, pulls out a weapon with a silencer, and then calmly fires off his shots. Even when the gun jams, he remains calm and goes about his business…

I have seen more than my fair share of hits having grown up in Philadelphia, and this hit would make any mobster proud.

That, however, generates the next question… why? Why would anyone feel the need to assassinate a healthcare company's CEO to the point of being so brazen as to conduct a broad daylight hit on the streets of New York City?

Lying in Wait

Backing up the premise this was a targeted hit, there is a new video popping up of the alleged shooter inside a Starbucks.

The store is very near where the shooting took place, so it appears that the killer was just biding his time until Thompson showed up.

Keep in mind, this was not Thompson's usual schedule, as he was headed to the Hilton for an industry event.

The fact the shooter knew about this is yet more evidence that this was likely an ordered hit.

Why?

Police are still investigating the murder, but I think it is a fairly safe assumption that the killing has something to do with the Department of Justice investigation that had been launched against Thompson and several other executives.

According to the report, Thompson exercised stock options as well as selling shares just weeks before a federal antitrust probe was launched.

The shares and options were reportedly worth more than $15 million, so you can see why I think this is the reason he was killed.

Was someone worried that Thompson was rolling over on everyone else? Did he do something outside the industry that created a problem (his wife did state they were receiving threats for weeks)? Was he part of the hack the company had suffered, resulting in a ransom of $22 million being paid? Police have plenty to investigate here, so hopefully, they will have more insight into this soon.