NYPD intensifies search for Manhattan gunman who shot L.A. man

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Stepping up their investigation, police in New York City have released a video showing the gunman they say shot and killed a 31-year-old Los Angeles man in a brazen, midday shooting near Central Park in midtown Manhattan.

The surveillance video shows a man in a dark hooded jacket climbing out of a car on 58th Street near the Time Warner Center, glancing around and then walking deliberately toward Brandon Woodard, the victim.

A still shot from the video shows the killer standing behind Woodard with his hand jammed in a front pocket of his jacket. Woodard appears to be looking at his cellphone, texting or reading a message.

Woodard was shot at close range in the back of his head, police said.

Woodard, 31, graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2003 and had attended Whittier Law School in California, his family said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

Friends on Twitter expressed their shock.

Woodard was convicted of grand theft, a DUI and a hit-and-run involving property, all in 2009, according to Los Angeles Superior Court records. He was convicted of petty theft in 2008 and urinating in public in 2006.

Officials with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said Woodard was due in Beverly Hills Superior Court on Jan. 22 for a hearing in connection with a single charge of cocaine possession. He was originally charged last June.

He was arrested by deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s station in West Hollywood. He had prior convictions for felony petty theft from Gelson’s and Whole Foods that were reduced misdemeanors, prosecutors said.

Police in New York City, meanwhile, said it does not appear Woodard had anything stolen. The killing appeared to be targeted and carried out quickly, police said. The shooting occurred in an area filled with private surveillance cameras and those operated by New York police.

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Video and photo from the New York City Police Department.