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UnitedHealthcare CEO murder sends executives scrambling to hire security: experts
The Wednesday assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will “heighten [executives’] awareness of vulnerabilities” and likely lead to a wave of new security contracts, experts told Fox News Digital.
In an ambush caught on surveillance video, a gunman with his face covered aimed a pistol with a silencer at Thompson at 6:46 a.m. Wednesday outside the Midtown Hilton Hotel and shot the executive three times.
Former New York Homeland Security adviser Michael Balboni told Fox News Digital that at least one prospective client, the head of a large financial institution, specifically mentioned the shooting when calling to ask after an executive-protection assessment through his company, Redland Strategies Inc.
“In the short term, this incident highlights the need to perform threat assessments on not just infrastructure or systems, but key personnel as well,” he said. “As a result, security personnel should be busy.”
UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO BRIAN THOMPSON’S ‘PREMEDITATED’ ATTACK AND SUSPECT’S GETAWAY: TIMELINE
Surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows the suspect wanted for the shooting death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (NYPD)
“But in the long term, complacency will return,” he added.
Retired NYPD detective Pat Brosnan, the CEO of Brosnan Investigations Group and former head of Brosnan Risk Consultants, told Fox News Digital that the killing had “already, within hours of the murder, prompted meetings of high-level, chief security officers around the country.”
“These emergency meetings were prompted by the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Thompson’s murder: a clearly targeted early morning assassination by a calm and eerily unrushed assassin with clear proficiencies in handling the weapon; the wherewithal and foresight to outfit the weapon with a very difficult-to-obtain silencer; and, likely most disturbing, [possession] of insider information regarding the target’s schedule.”
UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER: INVESTIGATORS START SMALL, FOCUS ON FAMILY IN SEARCH OF MOTIVE
This undated photo provided by UnitedHealth Group shows UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)
“His methodical and calm fixing of the weapon when it jammed likely sent an ice pick of fear into each of the CSOs (chief security officers),” he said. “It is exactly this type of apparent professionalism, linear focus on his mission and precise exit strategy coupled with specific intelligence as to the target’s movements that keep CSOs up late at night.”
“I am certain it prompted many of them to quickly reassess their current security protocols and procedures to mitigate against a copycat,” Brosnan continued.
MANHUNT FOR UNITEDHEALTH CEO SHOOTING SUSPECT ENTERS SECOND DAY AS STARBUCKS VISIT DRAWS SCRUTINY
Philip Klein – whose security company has provided bodyguards for Thompson in the past – told the Wall Street Journal that he was surprised his former client wasn’t accompanied on Wednesday.
“It was normal operation for that company that they would have their own private security team to take care of their corporate executives,” Klein told the outlet.
UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO SHOOTING SUSPECT ARRIVED IN NEW YORK LAST MONTH ON GREYHOUND BUS FROM ATLANTA: SOURCES
A screenshot from surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows an alleged person of interest wanted in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (NYPD Crime Stoppers )
Fox News Digital previously reported that Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, had said that there had been recent threats against her husband.
“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.”
Although there has been a spike in risk assessments after the shooting, Balboni said that it will likely be short-lived.
“During [the Black Lives Matter movement] there was a boost in retail security, for example,” he said. “But time goes on, and that goes away.”
“There might be an elevation of concern, but it’s going to go back to complacency,” he continued. “In the short term, yes, [executives will] at least [get] an assessment on these things to get professionals to do that. . . . But more executives I know say, ‘Not me, somebody else, it’s not going to happen to me.’”
“There are all sorts of problems that can happen – it becomes a personality thing,” he continued. “You’re [often] living with the protectee. . . . A lot of people after a certain amount of time are like, ‘Enough, I don’t want you around.’”
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A Michigan State student appeared to be brandishing a knife and running toward officers when he was shot in multiple waves of police gunfire, according to body camera video of the deadly confrontation released Friday.
MSU senior Isaiah Kirby, a 21-year-old Maryland native, was killed on April 15, and Friday marked the first time video of the fatal gunfire was shown to the public.
East Lansing police were called to Lake Lansing and Abbot roads on a theft call that “evolved into a stabbing by a suspect, which turned into an officer-involved shooting,” the department has said.
The officers’ video showed them driving to the scene when a man, identified by police as Kirby, came running toward them in the middle of the road. Kirby was brought down by an initial hail of gunfire as he came in their direction, video showed.
Kirby, screaming in agony, was on his knees as officers ordered him to drop a knife, according to video. Police then shot Kirby in two more hails of gunfire, with the first and last shots coming about 17 seconds apart, video showed.
“I want to thank the officers and employees of the East Lansing Police Department for their continued professionalism during this investigation,” said East Lansing Police Chief Jennifer Brown, who narrated the video.
“Furthermore, I want to thank the East Lansing community for their patience and understanding as this investigation proceeds,” she said.
Karyn Kirby, the slain student’s mother, and family attorney Teresa Bingman did not immediately return calls seeking comment early Friday evening.
Kirby’s family was shown heavily redacted footage last week that the slain student’s loved ones said didn’t show why deadly force was necessary.
“Where’s my truth? Where’s my transparency?” Karyn Kirby told supporters earlier this week.
“We have asked from the onset, to see raw, clear, unedited video,” she added. “That’s all I ask. It’s not that hard, right?”
The Michigan State Police are continuing to investigate the use of force by East Lansing officers, officials said.
East Lansing police identified the four officers involved in the shooting: field training officer Beck Martin, who has been on the job for three years; two-year veteran officer Brennan Surman; officer Benjamin Saylor, who has been on the job for one year; and officer Zane Johnson Chasteen, who has been on the job for three months and was paired with Martin.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Families and officers gathered outside the state capitol on Friday to remember and honor Minnesota’s fallen law enforcement officers.
Families honor loved ones killed in the line of duty
What we know:
The Peace Officers Memorial Day event began with a 24-hour vigil Thursday night, where officers from around Minnesota stood guard at the memorial.
The day included moments of silence, the playing of Taps and several wreath-laying ceremonies.
“Every once in a while, something tragic happens and somebody dies in the line of duty,” said Chief Brian Hubbard, president of the Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association, which organized the service.
According to organizers, 314 officers have died in the line of duty in Minnesota.
Behind every name is a family, a story and painful memory.
Tina Arendt of Cold Spring was young when her father, Stearns County Senior Sheriff’s Deputy Edwin Arendt, 61, died in the line of duty in November 1987. On Friday, she laid a wreath in his memory.
“It was just a random accident out in the middle of the country, and he didn’t make it home,” she recalled. “Things I remember about him – he loved his job. He loved being out helping people. There wasn’t a day that he wasn’t proud and honored to wear the badge.”
The event was as much about supporting families as it was about honoring the fallen.
“The main heart behind doing this is to make sure that those family members, those survivors left behind, know that we won’t forget about them,” said Hubbard.
The vigil and service at the memorial
Timeline:
The 24-hour silent vigil began Thursday night and ends Friday night. Officers took turns standing guard at the memorial throughout the day and night.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A resident of a home was able to escape serious injury Friday following a house fire in Kansas City, Missouri.
Crews were dispatched around 12:33 p.m. Friday to the 8000 block of Euclid Avenue in Kansas City.
The one-story residence had “heavy smoke and fire” showing when firefighters arrived, per a press release from KCFD.
The fire department brought one person from inside the house to safety, and the individual did not need medical treatment.
City Planning and Dangerous Buildings was requested.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.
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