Security professionals WRAL News spoke with on Thursday say no company is too small to have armed guards and security officers in the aftermath of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson getting shot and killed this week in New York City.
MPS Security and Protection founder Michael Julian shared his thoughts on the shooting.
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“It was well thought out,” Julian said. “They knew where he was going to be.”
A masked gunman shot and killed Thompson on Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel in Midtown, blocks from tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art.
Two law enforcement leaders Thursday said the ammunition used to shoot Thompson had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” on it.
The gunman is still at large.
The New York City Police Department shared pictures Thursday of the suspect’s face in what is believed to be a targeted attack.
“A company like that, if he’s a good CEO, should have had a protective detail,” Julian said. “In fact, they should’ve paid for it and insisted on it even if he didn’t want it.”
Julian said he believes Wednesday’s shooting could have and should have been prevented.
Mike Mullady works as the vice president of operations for Arrow Security, a security firm that provides executive security detail to Fortune 100 CEOs. Mullady said protection is no longer just for Hollywood stars
“CEOs of companies that don’t feel like anybody knows who they are, in this day and age, I say keyboard champions, they actually know [who] they are and what [they] do,” Mullady said.
Julian and Mullady said there should have been an advance on the meeting Thompson was attending. It would have allowed security to look for exits, safe spaces and suspicious people, they said.
“The CEO’s lifestyle, where does he go? What does he do?” Mullady said. “His routine, we break routines so somebody can’t get patterns.”
Julian said Wednesday’s shooting should spark a conversation that if you are at the helm of the company that makes money, it’s time to be proactive, not reactive.
“It’s going to be a horrendous wake-up call, and protective details will now be a line item in the company budget,” Julian said.