In the wake of the execution-style murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, insurance companies have been quickly removing photos and bios of executives from their websites. UHC, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and CVS have all taken down leadership pages, with more likely to follow.
Thompson was slain in a “brazen” attack as he was approaching the Hilton hotel in New York City for the company’s annual investor conference. The gunman escaped on a bike and remains at large.
Security expert Robert D’Amico, the founder of Sierra One Consulting and who has worked with the FBI, told Yahoo! News that the scrubbing of the bios and photos shows that, “These companies are hearing what experts like me have been saying about how easy it is to identify and then find their executives.”
There has been a sharp rise in public anger directed at health insurance executives, says Glen Kucera, president of Enhanced Protection Services at security firm Allied Universal. He told Yahoo! News, “I think there’s going to be a lot of executives that are going to say, ‘Hey, you know, this could happen to me and we should really consider our security protocol going forward.'”
The New York Times reports that there has been a spike in calls to companies that provide corporate security services. Representatives at Allied Universal — whose services include guarding offices, chauffeuring executives, and tracking the families — told the Times that their phones were “ringing off the hook.”
Here’s the least about what we know about the search for the killer:
- The gunman arrived in New York on Nov. 24 on a bus that originated from Atlanta and checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side.
- Authorities released security-camera images of the killer, smiling at the front desk worker of the hostel.
- They recovered a fake ID and found a cell phone on a sidewalk.
- Detectives had recovered DNA evidence, which is being tested.
:rotating_light:UPDATE: Below are photos of a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide on Dec. 4. This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premediated, targeted attack.
The full investigative efforts of… pic.twitter.com/K3kzC4IbtS
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 5, 2024