Police Believe They Found Backpack Of Man Who Assassinated Health Insurance CEO

Authorities believe they have recovered the backpack belonging to the assassin who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, CNN reported Friday evening.

The assassin, wearing a dark hoodie and “distinct” gray backpack when he killed Thompson, fled the scene on foot before getting on a bike, which he rode into Central Park. Authorities said the suspect was seen leaving the park without his backpack, and police recovered a backpack between “some boulders just south of the Central Park Carousel,” CNN’s John Miller reported.

The backpack was then taken to the NYPD’s crime lab where its contents will be searched and potentially analyzed for DNA evidence. Police still have not identified the suspect.

BREAKING: CNN reports that law enforcement officials believe that they have recovered the backpack belonging to the individual who murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. pic.twitter.com/cV6V13dazi

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Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that video shows the assassin later taking a taxi to a bus terminal that offers routes out of the city. CNN reported that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on Friday that investigators have “reason to believe” a “person of interest” in connection to the assassination fled New York City. Kenny said that the suspect arrived in Manhattan in a Greyhound bus from Atlanta on November 24, according to the Associated Press.

“From every indication we have from witnesses, from the Starbucks, from the hostel, he kept his mask on at all times except for the one instance where we have him photographed with the mask off,” added Kenny.

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Police, along with FBI agents, searched the person of interest’s room at the hostel, which he shared with two strangers. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Friday morning that authorities are “on the right track” to find the assassin and bring him “to justice.”

Shell casings recovered by detectives from the scene had the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” written on them. Video of the assassination showed that the assassin appeared to be using a handgun with a silencer, and the killer seemed proficient in handling firearms. Thompson’s company UnitedHealthcare has been criticized for rejecting patients’ insurance claims. UnitedHealthcare is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest companies in the world.