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The New York Police Department (NYPD) on Friday gave several major updates in its ongoing search for the person who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this week, including that investigators believe a person of interest is no longer in New York City. 

The department still has not named a suspect in the shooting, which occurred on Wednesday, or someone police have identified as a “person of interest,” but did release images of the person of interest on Thursday afternoon. 

Investigators claimed the person responsible for the murder “definitely planned this out,” because he arrived in the city days before the attack occurred. Detectives claimed the man had checked into a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side on Nov. 24 under a false identity. 

The suspect also appeared to know his victim’s schedule, because footage of the suspect showed him walking and wandering around the hotel area 30 minutes before the act.

“He knew what time the victim was going to be walking by. He knew what hotel this conference was going to be in,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch also said the department is still processing a “huge amount of evidence” in the case, which includes testing DNA, fingerprints, and the “massive camera canvass,” of the city, which was used to track the suspect’s steps before and after the shooting.

Tisch also said that investigators believe the person of interest has left New York City. Earlier reports indicated that the person of interest traveled to the city on a Greyhound bus, which came from Atlanta, Georgia.

Kenny said more recent footage showed the individual getting into a cab, which took him to a Port Authority bus center near 178th Street and Broadway.

“Those buses are interstate buses. That’s why we believe he may have left New York City,” he said. “We have video of him entering the Port Authority Bus Terminal. We don’t have any video of him exiting so we believe he may have gotten on a bus.”

The Atlanta Police Department on Friday said that it is now helping with the investigation, but that NYPD was leading it.

The NYPD has encouraged people with any information on the shooting to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The department is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.