UnitedHealthcare CEO taking pictures newest: Police discover backpack believed to belong to shooter in Central Park

It is unclear at this time what items may, or may not, have been in the backpack that police found in Central Park.

Detectives told The New York Times they were not going to open the backpack until it was examined at a forensic lab for evidence.

New York Police officers have uncovered what is believed to be the suspected shooter’s backpack in Central Park, a law enforcement agent told CNN on Friday evening.

The backpack was reportedly located between two boulders south of the Central Park carousel. That area is now being surveyed by crime scene technicians, according to The New York Times.

This is the second night in a row that police have searched the park looking for items that may have belonged to the person of interest. So far, police have not been able to identify the masked man.

Along with the backpack, police confiscated what appeared to be clothing and “a heavy object” according to The New York Times.

A dozen officers were searching for the shooter’s backpack near the intersection of 65th Street and Center Drive in Central Park on Friday, the New York Times reported.

The backpack appeared to be left behind by the gunman on Wednesday after he shot and killed CEO Brian Thompson. Video shows the gunman exiting the park without the bag.

Police on Friday searched trash cans, grates, storm drains and leaf piles in the park. It’s not clear if anything has been found yet.

The Atlanta Police Department said Friday that they are assisting the New York City police department “as needed” as part of the investigation into the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

On November 24,  more than a week before the shooting, the suspect traveled on a Greyhound bus from Atlanta to New York by bus, law enforcement sources told Fox News.

“As of this afternoon, on December 6, 2024, the Atlanta Police Department was contacted by the NYPD and will now be providing assistance as needed. The NYPD is the lead agency in this investigation so please direct all questions to their Public Affairs Office. The Atlanta Police Department will not be able to provide interviews or answer any questions regarding this investigation.”

The manhunt for the shooter continues.

The gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO “definitely planned this out,” authorities told CNN on Friday as the manhunt continues.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said they video of the suspect about 30 minutes before the shooting, “walking and wandering around the hotel area before he committed this act.”

“He knew what time the victim was going to be walking by. He knew what hotel this conference was going to be in,” Kenny said.

Investigators are still going through footage as the NYPD has access to “tens of thousands of cameras” around the city, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, something she said has been “huge” in the investigation.

The gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO “definitely planned this out,” authorities told CNN on Friday as the manhunt continues.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said they video of the suspect about 30 minutes before the shooting, “walking and wandering around the hotel area before he committed this act.”

“He knew what time the victim was going to be walking by. He knew what hotel this conference was going to be in,” Kenny said.

Investigators are still going through footage as the NYPD has access to “tens of thousands of cameras” around the city, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, something she said has been “huge” in the investigation.

Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, released a video on Thursday addressing employees’ safety concerns after the shooting of CEO Brian Thompson.

“I want to reiterate just how immeasurably sad the tragic passing of Brian really is to his family, to his friends, to all of his work colleagues and, frankly, to the American health care industry within which Brian was an innovator and somebody who endlessly put patient interests first to try and improve health care for everybody,” Witty said in the video obtained by CNN.

He described the circumstances of Thompson’s death as “profoundly shocking and disturbing.”

Witty told the employees that the company has heightened security measures at its facilities nationwide, including security checks before people enter campuses.

The suspect in the CEO shooting was captured on video dumping something on a pile of trash minutes before the killing of Brian Thompson.

Police say there may be DNA on whatever he dumped that could help them learn his identity.

The man is seen walking on West 55th Street toward the Hilton at 6:19 a.m. on Wednesday, according to footage obtained by Newsweek.

He walks past the first pile of blue plastic bags near the Stage Star Deli at 105 West 55th Street and then pauses in front of a pile of white plastic bags. The video at the deli captures the man as he leans forward and places some small object on one of the bags and continues walking.

Thompson was gunned down outside the Hilton at 6:45 a.m.

Police say they have  a “reason to believe” that the person of interest in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has left New York City, according to police commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Tisch told CNN on Friday that police released the photos of the suspect not wearing a mask on Thursday because they want a “wider audience to see the picture outside of New York City.”