A frantic manhunt is underway for a masked assailant who shot and killed the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one of the largest health insurers in the United States, outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel Wednesday morning in what the police called a brazen assassination.

周三上午，一名蒙面袭击者在曼哈顿中城一家酒店外枪杀了美国最大的医疗保险公司之一联合健康保险的首席执行官，警方称这是一起极为大胆的暗杀行动，目前正在紧急搜捕这名袭击者。

The executive, Brian Thompson, was shot from behind as he arrived at the New York Hilton Midtown on West 54th Street for an investors’ gathering.

这位高管布莱恩·汤普森在抵达西54街的纽约希尔顿中城酒店参加投资者聚会时被人从背后开枪击中。

After firing at least three shots at Mr. Thompson, 50, and hitting him in the calf and back, the shooter ran through a nearby passageway to West 55th Street, where the police said he jumped on a bike and rode off into Central Park.

枪手向50岁的汤普森至少开了三枪，击中了他的小腿和背部，然后穿过附近的一条通道跑到了西55街，警方说他在那里跳上一辆自行车，骑车进入了中央公园。

The police are now investigating whether the gunman escaped on an unmarked e-bike, rather than a Citi Bike as they first said, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

据两名了解调查情况的人士透露，警方目前正在调查枪手是否骑着一辆没有标志的电动自行车逃跑，而不是他们最初所说的花旗自行车。

On Thursday, the police released two photos of the man who is believed to be the shooter with his mask down that appear to have been taken at a hostel he was staying at. A senior law enforcement official said the shooter had been sharing a room with two strangers at the hostel, which is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan near 103rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It remains unclear when the photos were taken.

周四，警方公布了两张据信是枪手的男子未戴口罩的照片，似乎是在他住的旅舍拍摄的。该旅舍位于曼哈顿上西区，靠近103街和阿姆斯特丹大道。一名高级执法官员表示，枪手在该旅舍与两名陌生人合住一间房间。目前还不清楚这些照片是何时拍摄。

The police were also investigating messages left on bullet casings at the scene of the shooting, according to two law enforcement officials. Authorities are running ballistics tests on the casings, which appear to have had the words “delay” and “deny” on them, the official said.

据两名执法官员称，警方还在调查枪击现场弹壳上留下的信息。这名官员说，当局正在对弹壳进行弹道测试，弹壳上似乎有“拖延”和“拒绝”的字样。

While the meaning of the message was not immediately clear, “Delay, Deny, Defend” is the title of a 2010 book by Jay M. Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School, that discusses ways that health insurance companies avoid paying for patients’ claims.

虽然这些信息的含义还不清楚，但“拖延、拒绝、辩护”是罗格斯大学法学院名誉教授杰伊·费曼2010年一本书的书名，该书讨论了医疗保险公司如何避免支付患者的索赔。

Who was Brian Thompson?

布莱恩·汤普森是谁？

Mr. Thompson became UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive in April 2021. The company, which is based in a Minneapolis suburb, is a unit of UnitedHealth Group, whose market valuation of $560 billion makes it one of the country’s largest publicly traded companies.

汤普森于2021年4月成为联合健康保险的首席执行官。这家总部位于明尼阿波利斯郊区的公司是联合健康集团的子公司，该集团市值约为5600亿美元，是美国最大的上市公司之一。

Mr. Thompson spent more than 20 years rising through the ranks at UnitedHealthcare, which offers insurance to companies and individuals, employs about 140,000 people and had $281 billion in revenue in 2023.

在联合健康保险工作的20多年里，汤普森不断晋升。该公司为企业和个人提供保险，员工约14万人，2023年的收入为2810亿美元。

He received total compensation of $10.2 million last year, with $1 million in base pay augmented by substantial cash and stock grants. The company’s profits rose on his watch, jumping to more than $16 billion last year from $12 billion in 2021.

他去年的薪酬总额为1020万美元，其中100万美元是基本工资，另外还有大量的现金和股票奖励。在他任内，该公司利润上升，从2021年的120亿美元跃升至去年的160多亿美元。

But amid the growth, the company and its parent also attracted scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators who accused them of systematically refusing to authorize health care procedures and treatments.

但在增长的同时，该公司及其母公司也受到了立法者和监管机构的审查，被指责系统性地拒绝批准医疗程序和治疗。

UnitedHealth Group’s size and scope have attracted the attention of the Justice Department, which is examining whether it has engaged in anti-competitive behavior.

联合健康集团的规模和范围引起了司法部的注意，后者正在调查该公司是否存在反竞争行为。

According to regulatory filings, Mr. Thompson owned about $20 million of UnitedHealth Group shares as of late September. Bloomberg reported in April that he was one of several company executives who sold shares before the Justice Department antitrust investigation was disclosed to investors — about $15 million worth, in Mr. Thompson’s case. The company told Bloomberg at the time that the sales had been approved.

据监管文件显示，截至9月底，汤普森持有约2000万美元的联合健康集团股票。彭博新闻社4月报道，他是在司法部向投资者披露反垄断调查之前出售股票的几位公司高管之一，汤普森的股票价值约为1500万美元。该公司当时对彭博新闻社表示，这笔交易已获得批准。

UnitedHealthcare has drawn criticism from patients, lawmakers and others over its denial of claims that have, at times, left people stuck with sizable medical bills that they have to pay out of their own pockets.

联合健康保险因拒绝索赔而受到患者、立法者和其他人士的批评，拒绝理赔有时会让患者不得不自掏腰包支付巨额医疗账单。

UnitedHealthcare was the subject of a scathing report released by a Senate panel that documented insurers’ refusal to pay for the care of older people who suffered a fall or stroke. The report was part of Senate investigations into denial rates of private Medicare Advantage plans. Mr. Thompson’s company, in particular, was cited for a surge in denials in post-acute care when it increased to 22.7 percent in 2022 from 10.9 percent in 2020.

参议院一个小组曾发布一份关于联合健康保险的报告，措辞非常严厉，它记录了保险公司拒绝为跌倒或中风的老年人支付护理费用。这份报告是参议院对私人医疗保险优惠计划拒付率调查的一部分。特别是汤普森的公司，被指在急症期后护理方面的拒付率大幅上升，从2020年的10.9%上升到2022年的22.7%。

Before joining UnitedHealthcare, Mr. Thompson spent nearly seven years at the accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, now known as PwC.

在加入联合健康保险之前，汤普森在会计和咨询公司普华永道工作了近七年。

He graduated from the University of Iowa with an accounting degree in 1997 and lived in a Minneapolis suburb with his wife, Paulette R. Thompson, a physical therapist, and two children.

他于1997年毕业于艾奥瓦大学，获得会计学学位，与妻子、物理治疗师波莱特·汤普森和两个孩子住在明尼阿波利斯郊区。

Why was he in Manhattan?

他为什么在曼哈顿？

The shooting occurred as Mr. Thompson arrived early at the hotel to prepare for a UnitedHealthcare investors’ day gathering.

枪击发生时，汤普森提前抵达酒店，准备参加联合健康保险的投资者日聚会。

Such events, which are common for publicly traded companies, give major shareholders and analysts who track the companies a chance to hear from executives and pepper them with questions.

这类活动对于上市公司来说很常见，大股东和跟踪公司的分析机构在会上听取高管的意见，并向高管们提出大量问题。

The New York Hilton Midtown, one of New York City’s largest hotels, is in a busy tourist area, close to the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center, where the famous Christmas tree was lit Wednesday night.

纽约希尔顿中城酒店是纽约市最大的酒店之一，位于繁华的旅游区，靠近现代艺术博物馆和洛克菲勒中心，星期三晚上，著名的圣诞树就在那里点亮。

How did the shooting unfold?

枪击事件是如何发生的？

The killer, according to images released by the police and security-camera footage, was a man wearing a dark hooded jacket, a gray backpack and a mask covering the bottom of his face.

根据警方公布的图像和监控录像，凶手是一名身穿深色连帽夹克、背着灰色背包、脸部下方戴着口罩的男子。

Apparently knowing which door Mr. Thompson planned to enter, the shooter arrived outside the hotel about 10 minutes before his intended target and ignored passers-by as he lay in wait.

枪手显然知道汤普森打算从哪扇门进入，他比预定目标早10分钟到达酒店外，埋伏等待时无视路人。

As Mr. Thompson, in a blue suit, walked toward the hotel entrance, the shooter approached him from behind and fired at least three shots with a pistol that appeared to be fitted with a silencer. The pistol jammed during the shooting, but the gunman cleared the jam quickly and continued firing.

身穿蓝色西装的汤普森走向酒店入口时，枪手从后面接近他，用一把似乎装有消音器的手枪至少开了三枪。手枪在射击过程中卡壳，但枪手迅速排除状况，继续射击。

Struck by the bullets, Mr. Thompson took several steps, turned to face his assailant and then collapsed on the sidewalk.

被子弹击中后，汤普森走了几步，转身面对袭击者，然后倒在人行道上。

With his victim crumpled against a wall, the shooter walked toward him slowly. He seemed to point the gun at Mr. Thompson one more time, then walked away. He began to run only as he was crossing the street.

汤普森瘫在墙边，枪手慢慢地向他走近，他似乎再次用枪指向汤普森，然后走开了。过了马路之后才开始奔跑。

警察局长杰西卡·蒂施说，在抓获枪手之前，警察们 “不会休息”。

Where does the investigation stand?

调查进展如何？

The police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, who was sworn into the job just last week, said her department would “not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case.”

上周刚刚宣誓就职的警察局长杰西卡·蒂施表示，她的部门“在找到并逮捕这起案件中的枪手之前不会休息”。

Officers recovered a cellphone near the shooting site, and detectives were conducting a forensic analysis to see whether it was linked to the killing, the police said.

警方表示在枪击现场附近发现了一部手机，探员们正在进行鉴证分析，确定它是否与这起谋杀案有关。

Investigators were also expected to comb through footage from the many security cameras on the surrounding blocks that might offer leads as to where the shooter came from and where he went.

调查人员还将梳理附近街区的安全摄像头拍摄的画面，这可能会为枪手从哪里来、向哪里去提供线索。

One place he apparently stopped before the shooting was a nearby Starbucks on Sixth Avenue. Several images released by the police from inside the coffee shop showed what appeared to be a man dressed the same way as the shooter.

枪击发生前，他显然去过附近第六大道的一家星巴克。警方公布的几张咖啡店内的照片显示，一名男子的穿着似乎与枪手相同。

The police released additional images of who they believe to be the shooter on Thursday morning. The images show a man, smiling and wearing a green jacket, backpack and what looks like the black face mask he was seen wearing in previous photos around his neck.

星期四上午，警方公布了更多他们认为是枪手的照片。照片中，一名男子面带微笑，身穿绿色夹克，背着双肩包，脖子上似乎戴着在前几张照片中可以看到的黑色口罩。

Law enforcement officials were also investigating the purchase of a gun in Connecticut that they believe resembles the one used in the shooting, two officials briefed on the investigation said. They are trying to determine if that gun was bought by the person they suspect to be the shooter, the officials added.

两名了解调查情况的官员表示，执法官员还在调查在康涅狄格州出售的一把枪，他们认为那把枪与枪击案中使用的枪很相似。官员们还说，他们正在试图确定这把枪是否被他们怀疑是枪手的人购买了。

Investigators were also examining Mr. Thompson’s background for signs of a possible motive.

调查人员还在调查汤普森的背景，寻找可能动机的迹象。

He had recently received several threats, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation; the source and precise nature of the threats was unclear.

据一名熟悉调查情况的执法官员说，汤普森最近收到了几次威胁；这些威胁的来源和确切性质尚不清楚。

Police officers in Maple Grove, Minn., where Brian Thompson lived, responded to a bomb threat targeting his home on Wednesday, just hours before he was gunned down, a police report released Thursday said. The small suburban police department asked the Minneapolis bomb squad for help searching two residences, which did not turn up and explosives, according to the report. It remains unclear if that threat was related to his killing.

周四公布的一份警方报告称，周三，在汤普森居住的明尼苏达州梅普尔格罗夫，警方对针对他家的炸弹威胁做出了反应，当时距离他被枪杀只有几个小时。据报道，这个位于郊区的小警察局请求明尼阿波利斯拆弹小组帮助搜查两处住宅，但没有发现爆炸物。目前尚不清楚这一威胁是否与他的遇害有关。