UnitedHealthcare CEO's wife says he received ‘threats’ before being shot to death on Manhattan street

The wife of the health insurance CEO who was murdered Wednesday in Manhattan said her husband had received “threats” prior to the attack. “There had been some threats,” Paulette Thompson told NBC News in her first comments since Brian Thompson was killed by a gunshot wound. According to reports, Thompson and others in the insurance company were under investigation by the Department of Justice for insider trading. 

“Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage?” she said, in reference to her husband’s position as CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s insurance division. “I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him,” she told NBC News by phone, according to The New York Post.

“I can’t really give a thoughtful response right now. I just found this out and I’m trying to console my children,” she said, acknowledging that the police had informed her that they are classifying the murder as a “targeted attack.”

Thompson was killed by a gunman early Wednesday morning while he was walking outside the Midtown Hilton Hotel. The shooter put at least one bullet in Thompson's chest. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died shortly thereafter.

Sources in the New York Police Department told The New York Post that a masked gunman shot Thompson at 6:46 Wednesday morning outside of the hotel. The shooter escaped and moved eastbound on 6th Ave. and remains at large. Surveillance camera video revealed that the assailant was in possession of a handgun and rapidly left the crime scene on a bicycle.

The suspect is described as a white male with a black mask covering his face. He wore a cream-colored jacket and had on black and white running shoes. He had a gray backpack. Sources told The Post that the gunman seemed to be waiting for Thompson to appear and as soon as he spotted him, began shooting at him. Thompson was shot several times before dropping to the ground.

Thompson was at the hotel to attend UnitedHealth Group’s Investor Day conference. The event was cancelled because of a "very serious medical situation" with one of the attendees.

"I’m afraid that we – some of you may know we’re dealing with very serious medical situation with one of our team members. And as a result, I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring to a close the event today, which I’m sure you’ll understand," UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty told CNBC.