Kate Fisher: US Correspondent on the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson

The manhunt continues for a gunman after a top US executive was fatally shot in the back in New York's Manhattan.  

The victim is 50 year old UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson.  

Police say it was a brazen, targeted attack carried out by someone who was proficient with firearms.  

US Correspondent Kate Fisher told Ryan Bridge that authorities are telling people not to panic.  

She says Mayor Eric Adams is assuring people they're safe to go about their business. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kate for sure. Our US correspondent is with us this morning.
The CEO of United Healthcare has been shot did in Manhattan.
The NYPD currently holding a prisser. They say this is
not a random a shooting. This appears to be a
targeted a tech Kate, what's the lightest.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, as you say, Lisa about to give a news
conference in New York to get more details because at
the moment things are pretty sketchy. We know that Brian
Thompson was shot dead on the street outside the Hilton
Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan just before seven am local time.
He was making his way to the hotel for an

(00:39):
investor's meeting. We're told everybody there is in shock, as
our staff of the hotel. As you say, police think
this was targeted and not something random to the Mayor
of New York, Eric Adams, has tried to reassure New
Yorkers that it is safe to be out on the streets,
but clearly a shocking occurrence. Kind of seems to be

(01:01):
some sort of execution. In the early hours of this morning.
He was wearing a hooded black garment and escaped on
a bike heading down an alleyway. Towards Central Park. But
other than that, we still don't know what the motive
could be. The police press conference is just starting as
we speak.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, I could say they've got a fine number up
for tips, so they're obviously wanting people to know, Dobbin
what happened and a ten thousand dollars reward, right, Okay,
sounds quite serious. Let's got to Trump and has picked
for Secretary of Defense. There are allegations of drinking and
treatment of women here. Is this going to be another
one that falls by the wayside.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's certainly looking very tense at the moment as to
whether he can hang on to this. This is Pete Heski,
the former Fox News presenter, but there are many allegations
about him being drunk on the job and about potential
allegations of misconduct towards women, to the extent that Donald
Trump has apparently start to look for a potential replacement,

(02:02):
including his former rival for the presidential nomination, that is
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida. They have had not
the closest of relationships, given that they were fighting each
other for the presidential nomination. So it has surprised some
people that Donald Trump is looking to Ron DeSantis, but
at the moment, Pete Heskiff is still the nominee. He's

(02:22):
on Capitol Hill today trying to persuade some of those
senators who are unsure about him that he is the
man for the job. And his mother has even been
on TV today trying to say that he is a
great guy and not to worry, even though back in
twenty eighteen she apparently emailed him and told him he
was an abuser of women. Takes that back and has apologized.

(02:45):
But you know it's not looking great, no.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
And we'll never good if you need to call your
mum up to come out and do a prisser for you. Kate,
Thank you for that, Kate, for sure you is correspondent.
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