UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting latest: Backpack found in Central Park

Police say the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have used a veterinary gun in the Wednesday shooting, according to NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny.

Veterinary guns are larger guns used by farmers to put down animals without making a loud noise.

“It’s meant for close-up killing,” CNN’s Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller said. “It’s meant for vets to kill an animal by shooting it in the head or somewhere, you know, that’s going to be fatal. But it would work the exact same way on humans, very effectively and extraordinarily quietly.”

Police have briefed US border patrol agents at both borders to keep an eye out for the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, CNN reports.

Investigators believe the suspect left New York City via bus after they found security footage of him entering Port Authority Bus Terminal, but did not find footage of him leaving.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information on the suspect.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now assisting New York police with their search for the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday.

The agency is now offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the suspect’s arrest and conviction. The New York Police Department also offered $10,000 for information.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN that investigators have a “huge amount of evidence” in their search for the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday.

This includes DNA evidence, fingerprints and a “massive camera canvass” of the suspect’s movements, Tisch told the outlet.

However, police say the suspect likely left the city after they recovered footage of him entering Port Authority Bus Terminal on Wednesday but did not find footage of him leaving.

While searching a wooded area at the southern end of the park, police discovered a dark backpack nestled between two boulders, law enforcement officials told CNN. This was the second time police searched the park looking for it.

Joe DeVito, creator behind a viral song about the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, told The Independent’s Richard Hall why he wrote the song — and what he hopes listeners take away from it.

When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in Manhattan on Wednesday, his death quickly turned into a larger conversation about the much-reviled industry in which he worked.

Read more from The Independent’s Richard Hall:

The New York Police Department found the suspect’s backpack in Central Park on Friday.

Watch below as they searched for the key piece of evidence:

The man police say fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was last seen on security footage entering New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.

However, police said they don’t have footage of him exiting, leading them to believe he left New York City.

The shooter arrived last month on a Greyhound bus from Atlanta, Georgia and checked into an Upper West Side hostel on November 30 with a fake New Jersey ID, police said.

10:11 p.m.: Gunman arrives in New York City on a bus

5:30 a.m.: Gunman leaves the hostel he’s staying at and heads toward Midtown

5:41 a.m.: Gunman arrives at the Hilton in Midtown and begins wandering the area

6:44 a.m.: Gunman fatally shoots Brian Thompson and then flees on foot before getting on a bicycle

6:48 a.m.: The gunman arrives to Central Park

6:56 a.m.: The gunman leaves Central Park on a bicycle

7:04 a.m.: Cameras show gunman on 86th Street getting into a cab

7:30 a.m.: Gunman enters the bus station on 128th Street.