Police in New York City have reportedly found a major piece of evidence left behind by the gunman who shot and killed the CEO of a massive health insurer, and one expert called the clue "crucial."
Brian Thompson, 50, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead Wednesday morning. Authorities have said he was killed in a targeted attack outside the Hilton Midtown hotel, and bullets at the scene reportedly contained the words "deny," "depose" and "defend," an apparent reference to tactics used by healthcare insurers to deny claims.
The NYPD found the suspect's backpack, which he dumped after biking away from the shooting, CNN reported, citing a source.
Michael Harrison, the former commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, told anchor Wolf Blitzer the finding was "very crucial."
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"Especially that it was found this fast," he said Friday evening. "And equally as important as finding it, I think it's important to note that — it's important that we know his frame of mind that he actually left it somewhere. That he was in the frame of mind to discard all these pieces of evidence."
Harrison said the backpack could prove to be the "most important" piece of evidence in the case.
"It could contain the weapon and other things that remain to be known," he said.
The backpack plus the newfound information on the shooter's frame of mind, he said, "gives me hope that they will find this person in the near future."
John Miller, CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, agreed with Harrison that the backpack is a sign the shooter was "shedding evidence so that it couldn't be tied to him if he was stopped" during his escape.
The bag will be taken to a lab in Queens, he said, where investigators will try to extract any hairs and open the bag to see what else they can obtain.
"Is there touch DNA? Skin cell DNA? Is there a water bottle he may have taken a drink from? Is there a package of mints? Is there a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol with a silencer on it? That's a treasure trove of evidence depending on what they find when they open it."
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