DNA test results could be mere days away in evidence connected to the shooter who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, The Post has learned.

The DNA samples being processed were taken from a water bottle believed to have been dropped by the masked gunman as he fled from shooting Thompson outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown, as well as bullets from the scene, sources said.

A Starbucks coffee cup that the shooter potentially used is also being processed for DNA evidence, according to sources.

Whether the tests will yield DNA connected to Thompson’s assassin is still unknown. A result could be used to find a positive match in a law enforcement database, or help confirm if a future suspect in custody is the killer.

The manhunt for the shooter — which entered its third day Friday — has involved investigators tracking his movements across New York City going back to his apparent arrival on Nov. 24 on a bus from Atlanta pulling into Port Authority.

All places that NYPD and FBI investigators confirmed the suspect visited have been combed for DNA evidence and fingerprints, including the Upper West Side hostel room where he stayed, sources said. 

The shooter also left a tantalizing trail of evidence at the shooting scene itself, sources said.

Three live 9-millimeter rounds and three discharged shell casings were found at the scene, where the gunman methodically shot Thompson in the back and leg, police said. 

He was spotted on video minutes before the shooting buying two water bottles and PowerBars from a nearby Starbucks, sources have said. 

What we know about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

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• Brian Thompson, the CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down Wednesday outside a luxury Midtown hotel in a “brazen, targeted attack,” police said.
• Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justice.
• Thompson’s wife, Paulette, said her husband had been getting threats before he was killed.
• Thompson’s shooting led to sick support online, and even spurred a tasteless lookalike competition in NYC.
• A person of interest has been nabbed by police officers inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.
• The suspect has been identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, originally from Towson, Md. He’s an Ivy League graduate who hated the medical community.

Follow along with The Post’s live updates on the news surrounding Brian Thompson’s murder.

Investigators believe he dropped one of those water bottles, along with a burner phone as he ran off through the Ziegfeld alleyway between West 54th and 55th streets before hopping onto an e-bike.

Sources previously told The Post that fingerprints have been recovered during the investigation, but whether they’re from the shooter or will help lead to him is still unclear.

The hunt also involves a sweeping canvass for video evidence that has so far helped investigators trace his days-long path through the city before and after he calmly shot Thompson early Wednesday.

NYPD cops have not only searched the hostel, but swept Central Park in an unsuccessful search for the killer’s gun and distinctive gray backpack  – which he wore as he rode the electric bicycle into the park while fleeing the shooting, but didn’t appear to have as he exited at West 77th Street, sources have said, describing video footage.

The bike had yet to be recovered as of Friday, sources said.