Investigators in New York City believe they have found the backpack used by the gunman sought in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson during a Friday search of Central Park.
Investigators say the gunman went into Central Park after the shooting with his backpack on and a short time later came out without it. The bag was found not far from the popular park carousel.
Authorities were sweeping the park to find the bag, searching through lakes and ponds, meadows, playgrounds and a densely wooded section called “The Ramble.”
As dusk approached Friday, small groups of officers could be seen roaming among trees across ground covered with leaves.
Video of the gunman fleeing Wednesday’s shooting showed him riding a bicycle into Central Park and later taking a taxi to a bus terminal that offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters earlier.
The FBI is assisting the New York Police Department as it continues its manhunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“The FBI is assisting the NYPD with this investigation,” the agency told Fox News Digital without offering specifics.
On Friday, authorities believe the backpack the gunman was seen carrying was found in Central Park.
Investigators believe the suspect fled the city after the killing.
A retired FBI special agent told Fox News Digital that tips are likely “pouring in” to the NYPD because of the full face shot released of the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect in the same way they did with the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
“In Boston, we had photos of ‘black hat’ and ‘white hat’ in the marathon bombings, but they weren’t really clear and they didn’t really add any investigative value because if you put those out they really didn’t look like anybody,” Jason Pack, a retired FBI special agent who investigated the bombing, told Fox News Digital on Friday, referring to the bombing suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar “Jahar” Tsarnaev.
He said once investigators got a “clear photo” of the suspects “several hours later the tips started pouring in and I’m sure that’s going on right now with the NYPD with the clear face shot of the suspect.”
He added that tips from the public are “really important” and that the FBI has a saying “the greatest weapon we have against crime is cooperation and support of the American people.”
On Thursday, the NYPD released a photo of the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in which he was smiling in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel.
It’s hard to believe that authorities haven’t identified the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City street this week, a former FBI agent said.
Despite images and video footage of the unmasked suspect being widely circulated, investigators have not been able to identify him.
“It’s absolutely shocking to me that we don’t know who this person is right now, and not because of the lack of effort on the part of the New York Police Department, Ret. FBI special agent Maureen O’Connell told ”Your World Cavuto.”
Investigators will most likely try to use forensic genecology using the suspect’s DNA and genecology sites.
“They’re going to see if they find any other people that match him closely. With any luck, his mom or his brother did Ancestry (.com) and we’ll be able to find out who this person is rather quickly,” O’Connell said.
The New York Police Department on Friday said investigators believe the assailant left the city after killing Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday.
Retired NYPD detective Pat Brosnan told Fox News that the killer authorities will track the gunman down no matter where he is. His biggest mistake was flirting and smiling with a receptionist at the hostel where he stayed for several days.
“That put his picture out there to the globe and it’s viral. There’s no place he can hide. I’m not even remotely concerned with the statements from the commissioner as it related to him leaving the five boroughs of New York,” he said.
“I’m taking the over-under here. He’s in leg irons within days, if not hours,” he added.
Brosnan also noted that New York City has thousands of cameras, some of which captured images the suspect before the killing.
“If this guy thinks that he’s going to remain invisible under that unblinking eye and army of cameras, he’s sadly mistaken,” he said.
