Investigators believe the suspect arrived in New York City on Nov 24 after traveling from Atlanta by bus, CNN reported, citing unnamed law enforcement sources. The suspect checked into a hostel in the city with a fake identification and paid with cash, CNN reported.
Detectives believe the perpetrator was experienced with firearms based on how he slowly and deliberately carried out the shooting, CNN reported, citing police sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
Security video showed the shooter, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, ski mask and a gray backpack, walking up behind Thompson, raising his handgun and firing at his back.
Police said the gunman arrived outside the hotel several minutes before Thompson and waited for him to walk past before firing, ignoring other passers-bys.
CNN, whose reporter John Miller is a former NYPD deputy commissioner, said police found a phone in an alley that the gunman ran through and also recovered a water bottle the shooter bought just minutes before the attack.
A fingerprint on the water bottle was too smudged to provide further clues about the shooter, the New York Times reported, citing a senior law enforcement official.
New York has one of the most advanced surveillance systems of any major US city, largely built after the attacks of Sep 11, 2001, said Felipe Rodriguez, a former NYPD detective sergeant who is now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
There are thousands of cameras in New York and all feeds can be monitored in real-time as well as reviewed for previous video, aided by facial recognition software.
