Police believe man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO may have left New York City

New York City police say the gunman who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have left the city.

In an interview with CNN, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that they had obtained surveillance footage of the gunman entering a bus station.

“Those buses are interstate buses,” he said. “That’s why we believe he may have left New York City.”

Officials discovered a bag Friday they believe was carried by the suspect.

Police said the bag was found in Central Park, where surveillance video shows the suspect entered on a bicycle after the shooting.

It was removed with an excavator to prevent the risk of investigators contaminating even the ground around it with other traces, officials said.

Police did not share what, if anything, was in the bag.

Meanwhile, the suspected shooter’s stop at a Starbucks minutes before Wednesday’s shooting in Midtown Manhattan may offer clues about his identity. The Associated Press reports that surveillance video shows the gunman buying water and a protein bar from Starbucks. The bottle and wrapper of the protein bar were reportedly recovered from a trash can and sent to the city’s medical examiner for fingerprint testing.

Officers have also searched at least two New York hostels after receiving a tip that Brian Thompson’s killer may have stayed in at least one of the locations.

A representative from one of the hostels told Scripps News they “are fully cooperating with the NYPD.”

On Thursday, the NYPD released a picture of a person of interest. However, police have not specified whether the man seen smiling at the hostel is the same person they believe killed Thompson.

NYPD

A law enforcement source told WABC-TV in New York that the man pulled his mask down to reveal his smile as he was apparently flirting with the front desk receptionist.

Thompson was killed Wednesday morning as he was walking from the hotel where he was staying to the New York Hilton Midtown for a conference with investors, police said.

Surveillance video shows the gunman, who was wearing a coat and a mask, walking up behind Thompson and firing shots into his back before fleeing.

RELATED STORY | ‘Depose,’ ‘Deny,’ ‘Defend’ reportedly written on shell casings in slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Police have not established a motive, but a law enforcement official told The Associated Press that shell casings with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were found at the scene of the shooting.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the gunman’s capture.