Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance division, was shot and killed in a targeted attack in New York City on Wednesday, ahead of the company’s investor conference.

Thompson, 50, was walking alone to UnitedHealth’s investor event at around 6:45 a.m. when he was shot in the back and leg, the New York Police Department said in a press conference. Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the shooting a “brazen, targeted attack,” and said the suspect appeared to be waiting for Thompson outside the hotel.

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The police said they had not yet identified the suspect or a motive for the shooting.

UnitedHealth executives were in New York City on Wednesday for their annual investor conference, which began at 8 a.m. UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty came on stage after an hour and canceled the rest of the conference, saying that a colleague whom he did not identify experienced a “very serious medical situation.”

“I’m afraid that some of you may know we’re dealing with a 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 apologize for,” Witty said. “I’m sure you understand. We’re going to go offline now from the broadcast. We’ll share with you an alternative mechanism to update you. I apologize for bringing things to a close, but I hope you’ll understand.”

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In a statement later on Wednesday, UnitedHealth said, “We are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.”

The company said Thompson was a “highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him.”

“We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time,” the statement continued. “Our hearts go out to Brian’s family and all who were close to him.”

Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Thompson’s sister-in-law, Maria Reveiz, described Thompson as a wonderful person and hard worker.

“We are shocked and heartbroken over this senseless murder,” Reveiz said. “We, like the rest of the world, found out online, which is shameful. Brian was a wonderful person, a fabulous father, and this is very unfair.”

Thompson lived in Minnesota, with his wife and two sons. His wife is a physical therapist at Park Nicollet, which is part of the HealthPartners system. No one answered the door at the Thompsons’ residence when a STAT reporter rang the bell on Wednesday morning.

Thompson’s wife told NBC News that her husband had been receiving threats.

“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,” she said, according to NBC.

NYPD officials said the shooting took place near the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, where the company was holding its investor event. Police officers responded to a 911 call and found Thompson with gunshot wounds. He was taken to Mount Sinai West hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

NYPD officials said a masked male targeted Thompson, waiting for several minutes outside the hotel and ignoring other pedestrians, before opening fire. The person fled after the shooting on foot, and was later seen on video riding into Central Park on a Citibike. NYPD said the suspect was still at large as of noon ET.

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Police described the suspect as a light-skinned man who was wearing a gray or cream-colored jacket, a black face mask, black and white sneakers, and a grey backpack. NYPD is offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps the case.

“With an incident like this, of course, we put a heavy deployment into Manhattan,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said during the press conference. “We put additional resources out. We have the drones up. We have aviation out. We have K-9 out. When an incident like this happens, we don’t spare any expense.”

Thompson joined UnitedHealth in 2004 and has led UnitedHealthcare, the company’s insurance division, since 2021. Before that, Thompson led the company’s government programs. He has also served as chief financial officer for UnitedHealthcare’s commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid programs.

UnitedHealthcare is the country’s largest private health insurer. In 2023, its medical plans covered roughly 53 million people and generated $281 billion in revenue.

At the New York Hilton Midtown, the main entrance, on 6th Avenue, was largely business as usual: Tour guides advertised rides on a hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus while standing in front of a large Christmas display. Hotel guests briskly boarded a line of taxis stationed opposite a green-painted bike lane.

Around the corner on West 54th Street, however, police and news crews dominated the scene of the shooting. Two unmarked police vehicles, lights flashing, idled at the curb, and squad cars parked up and down the block, many facing the wrong direction on the one-way street, which was closed to traffic.

Tourists and legal professionals attending another conference in the hotel snapped pictures of the throngs of reporters, whose cameras were, in turn, pointed toward the police.