BILLINGS - From 2,000 miles away, Montana business owner and former combat veteran Peter Johnson is closely following the investigation into the deadly shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“The CEO is walking by himself, completely unprotected,” Johnson told MTN News in an interview.
He has been watching surveillance video of the Wednesday morning shooting, joining many Americans invested in the case.
“They have a security team, but as I understand it right now, no one was with him,” he added.
Johnson, who recently relocated his company, Archway Defense, from Minnesota to Montana, brings an insider’s perspective as a former U.S. Air Marshal and an expert in criminal justice and firearms.
“Archway Defense is our training company, founded in 2014,” Johnson said. “We travel coast to coast and border to border, training state, local, and federal law enforcement.”
His most recent client is the Billings SWAT team, a collaboration that, according to Johnson, didn’t cost taxpayers a dime due to sponsorship.
“The opportunity to mitigate violence is what we call ‘left of bang,’” he explained. “‘The bang’ is the gunshot, stabbing, or act of violence. ‘Left of bang’ refers to the moments leading up to it.”
Archway Defense tackles this through specialized virtual reality training.
“The opportunity for the average person is also ‘left of bang,’” he said. “It’s about spotting precursors to violence before they occur. We can train people to recognize these early warning signs using a gamified model that identifies deviations from baseline behavior.”
CBS reported Thursday that more than 24 hours after Thompson was fatally shot in what police are calling a targeted attack, a citywide manhunt is still underway. Detectives are examining Thompson’s electronics and believe the gunman may have left crucial clues.
Johnson draws on his military and professional background to analyze investigations like this one.
“Right after 9/11, I joined the military, as many people did,” he said. “I served six years, with my last deployments in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. When I returned to the States, I earned degrees in criminal justice with a focus on counterterrorism.”
While attending college, he worked for a small-town police department and later joined the Air Marshals. His natural next step was to train others in these critical skills, using a virtual reality program that emphasizes personal protection.
“If you look at New York City, it has more cops per square foot than anywhere else in the country,” he said. “Even so, you are responsible for your own personal protection.”
As speculation mounts regarding the motive for the shooting, Johnson offered theories based on his extensive experience in tactical firearms training.
“Was the shooter a Tier 1, high-level operator? Probably not, but he also wasn’t a complete novice,” Johnson noted. “He knew how to clear the weapon calmly, which suggests a certain level of practice.”
He also believes the shooter may have used a homemade firearm, based on the way it functioned during the attack.
The masked gunman, equipped with a silencer, approached Thompson from behind, shooting him in the back and leg. When the weapon jammed, the shooter quickly cleared it and resumed firing, then jogged across the street in plain view of witnesses.
“This company has a high-level security detail that travels with its executives,” Johnson pointed out. “The question needs to be asked: Why wasn’t even one security professional assigned to him?”
