A New York Police Department dive team searched a Central Park pond on Saturday as part of the investigation into the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The divers were seen near Bethesda Fountain, behind an area cordoned off with police tape, in the Lake near the park’s boathouse.
The investigation has been ongoing since the shooting occurred outside the Hilton Midtown on Wednesday morning. According to a timeline provided by Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, the suspect fled through Central Park after the shooting, exiting the park at 77th Street on the Upper West Side. He was then spotted on 86th Street, still on a bicycle, before getting into a taxi cab.
Police believe the suspect is no longer in New York City, as footage showed the cab dropping him off at Port Authority bus station. However, detectives have not found footage of him leaving the station, which serves routes that could have taken him to New Jersey, north toward Boston or south toward Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The NYPD has been searching Central Park since Wednesday, and police have yet to recover the weapon used in the shooting. A backpack believed to belong to the shooter was found on Friday, containing a jacket and Monopoly money. The NYPD has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction, and the FBI has offered up to $50,000.
