The manhunt is still underway in New York City after Iowa native and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot to death outside his hotel on Wednesday morning while in town for a conference.
The 50-year-old Thompson lived in Minneapolis with his family. He grew up in Hamilton County, Iowa, and was a 1997 University of Iowa graduate. He graduated in 1993 from South Hamilton High School in Jewell, where Todd Coy is the principal.
“He was an outstanding student,” Coy says. “It’s been over 30 years, probably 31 years since Brian was here at South Hamilton, but he still stands out as one of those students that definitely left a lasting impression on staff and the Class of ’93. Just a great kid.”
Coy says everyone there remembers Thompson. “He was that model student, always striving for excellence,” Coy says. “I mean, if he missed an answer on a test, he wanted to know why, and could it have possibly been that the question was worded wrong? So he was a great kid.”
Thompson stood out in academics, athletics and other extra curricular activities. “He was class president. He was their homecoming king. He was our valedictorian. He was an all-state trombone player. He strived in golf,” Coy says. “Pretty much seemed like whatever Brian set his mind to, he was going to excel.”
Police in New York say it appears the slaying was a “brazen, targeted attack” that was not random. Security video shows the masked man using a gun with a silencer, repeatedly shooting Thompson from behind as he left the hotel. Coy says everyone is stunned by the news.
“It’s shocking, I feel for his family,” Coy says. “I’ve only probably had conversations with Brian two or three times since he graduated, but it was just like old times when he came back, very personable, built great relationships with people.”
Investigators say the gunman fled the scene on foot, then on an e-bike, but they lost his trail in Central Park a few blocks away. Reports say a cell phone and a water bottle were found that may have been dropped by the shooter, along with shell casings.
Reports say UnitedHealthcare was aware of threats against its high-level executives. Thompson had been at the company since 2004 and was named chief executive in 2021.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)