COVINGTON, Ga. - A bloody hat along with three bloody paper towels was found inside and around the Newton County Library’s east entrance trash can Monday morning.

The bloody hat was found by a library employee, according to the Covington Police Department report. Officer David Stewart arrived on the scene and found the bloody grey “USA” hat in the trash can followed by the discovery of three bloody paper towels: one inside the trash can, one next to the trash can and one underneath a nearby bench.

Officer Stewart then “checked with Dispatch to see if there had been any medic calls over the last 48 hours in the area of the library and was advised that there had been no reports of anyone injured in, or around that area,” according to the incident report. He proceeded to contact Piedmont Newton where, due to HIPAA regulations, the charge nurse could not release information from the prior shift.

Later on, after the bloody hat and paper towels were collected as evidence by Detective Travis Pierce, it was determined that the items were “relevant to an incident which [they] weren’t aware of so far,” the report stated.