I also heard on the news that the CEO was at this conference for a few days so that may have given the shooter the opportunity to observe his routine/walking routes? Also is it difficult to find out the schedules for the conference?
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Probably 30 hotel employees had copies of the schedule- the banquet staff for putting out coffee and danish at 7 am, then switching to lunch prep mid-morning. The cleaning staff. Two or three A/V people from the Events team to make sure the microphone, extension cords, etc. are set up and then to sit in the back to troubleshoot. The front desk team to direct attendees to whichever ballroom/event room the conference was taking place. The security team-- uniformed guards in the lobby, plainclothes in the elevators, corridors, etc.
And the administrative assistant of every single invited guest/attendee from various companies.
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A crazy amount of money was in play here. Business rival? Or someone who stands to inherit some piece of his recent $10 million gain? Or again, someone whose claim was denied while seeing the enormous profits being made by the denier? So many possible motives when this kind of money is involved.
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An expert on CNN spoke about a bolt action pistol favored by assassins. I’d never heard of such a thing, so I searched for it.
Google Station Six 9. They run around $2,000.
There can’t be many people purchasing these. That could narrow things down.
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Not a good day for Blue Cross to be announcing that they will limiting coverage of anesthesia during surgery. I’m glad they are backing off of that!
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And beyond that, Wall St analysts often publish schedules of events for the companies they cover, including which executives will be presenting and where. Often the companies will keep the same venue and timing from year to year. I’m attending a very similar company event in NY next week. Even before the invites were circulated the analysts covering the company could tell you where and when (I asked because I wanted to book my flight and hotel location early). And I could certainly guess when the CEO will arrive at the venue even if I don’t know his hotel details.
This seems distinctly unlikely for most corporate executives. For a start he would have then had to get changed again, which would mean having a room, and potentially more clothes etc at the venue, because he’s not going to present at the event itself while wearing a protective vest.
I do think we’ll see more CEOs with a security detail in the future.
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There was also some insider trading allegations
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Or he may have been like my Dad who for a while was a high up diplomat in a country that was considered dangerous. He was given bulletproof vests (which he never wore) and they begged him to have a more marine guards. He felt he was safer without them. I don’t know if he was correct, but nothing happened to him there or in other places where he was equally careless.
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They keep showing the video of the shooter coming out of the park with no backpack (a $300 Peak Design backpack, mind you) and taking about how they are scouring the park but have found no signs of the bag.
Am I the only one who thinks it looks like the backpack is under the jacket on the video?
CNN is reporting the shooter was in the city for 10 days and traveled there from Atlanta by bus.
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If that is the Peak Design $300 pack, it is too big to fit under a jacket. I own one, my husband travels with one. REI had them on sale recently. They are 45L, the size of a Euro carryon of 21 inch.
They are very nice packs! I bet an unattended one can be easily spirited away by someone. Now that someone might be stuck with crime evidence.
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According to the CEO its an early version (I was told). The one we have is not that large and quite collapsible. Its our everyday computer/commuter bag. They have a 30L and a 20L.
And yes, anyone in the market for an awesome pack should check it out 
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The keynote at an investor conference one year was Ben Bernanke (after his term at the Fed). Security was very tight-- the Fed Chair always attracts the crazies, he was getting death threats periodically from people who want to go back to gold and eliminate paper money, stuff like that. But the contrast was very apparent- corporate CEO’s wander around getting coffee during the breaks, they’ll chat with anyone who strikes up a conversation, instead of being surrounded by security they’ll have their Chief of Staff and the head of investor relations standing there, but not in a protective way. Bernanke swooped in and swooped out, was not on the schedule (just “keynote speech on monetary policy” or something anodyne like that).
It will be sad but necessary when the informality of these convenings goes away. But I still miss having an actual knife on an airplane instead of the “spork”, which shows you how behind the times I am…
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Agree these are awesome bags. They are not $300 though as the media reports. A bit cheaper! 
$279.95 + tax? Not too far off. Still, worth every penny.
Let’s not digress.
Wow, not quite the caliber of a college football coach but lots’a money.
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I recall that in the current TV series “The Day of the Jackal”, the Jackal’s identity was narrowed down in episode 1 by the specific backpack he was using to carry his gun, while posing as a cleaner in Munich. But it sounds like this backpack may not be so unique?
Sounds to me like quite moderate pay for a company worth over $500B. I’ve seen plenty of CEOs make more than that from a company a hundredth the size of UHC.
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Just read that on social media not only are people making light of this murder, but they’re now thirsting after the shooter. Just disgusting.
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