According to police, the alleged murderer of the head of UnitedHealth, who was shot dead in the middle of New York, was not insured with the US company himself – and was probably targeting company boss Brian Thompson because of the size of the billion-dollar company.
“We have no evidence that he was ever a customer of UnitedHealth,” said chief investigator Joseph Kenny in an interview with regional broadcaster NBC New York about the suspect, who was carrying a handwritten “manifesto” when he was arrested on Monday. “But he mentioned that it’s the fifth-largest corporation in America, which makes it the largest health care provider in America. That’s probably why he chose the company.”
Thompson was shot at close range near busy Times Square in Manhattan on December 4th and died of his injuries in a hospital. The crime, which was filmed by surveillance cameras, and the public search for the fugitive shooter made headlines around the world. Five days after the fatal shots, Luigi M. was noticed in the restaurant of a fast food chain in the US state of Pennsylvania and was arrested. Just hours after his arrest, the 26-year-old was charged with murder in Manhattan, among other things.
Police: Luigi M. sees himself as a hero
According to the police, the graduate of an elite university and son of a wealthy family, who despite the cold-blooded act was quickly styled by some on the Internet as an “avenger” and a modern “Robin Hood”, sees himself as a hero. “He appeared to view the targeted killing of the company’s top official as a symbolic strike and direct action against the company’s alleged corruption and ‘power games’,” US media quoted a New York police report as saying. Luigi M. sees himself as a kind of martyr who has decided to finally take action against such injustices.
In fact, the horror of the crime online quickly merged with the concentrated anger of many people against the American healthcare system and the insurance industry in the USA. Both are strongly organized in the private sector: supply and demand play a central role, hospitals and insurance companies are – unlike in Germany – largely not in public hands.
Horrible drug prices, doctor’s fees and administrative costs are perceived by many as unfair. Low earners and the unemployed in particular often do not get the help they need. According to a survey by the Gallup polling institute, 81 percent of respondents in the USA are dissatisfied with the costs of medical care.
NEW YORK (dpa-AFX)
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