What we know about fatal shooting of health executive Brian Thompson

Police are working with “a lot of leads”, said former FBI special agent Michael Tabman. On Friday, the FBI offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Police have put together more than 200 images of the suspect from his arrival in New York until he fled Midtown Manhattan after shooting Thompson, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

On Thursday they shared two images – the clearest ones so far – of the suspect, one which shows him smiling with his black face mask pulled down.

A hostel receptionist reportedly told police that the photo was taken when she asked him to show his face, in a flirtatious moment.

The man was staying at the hostel on the Upper West Side in New York, where he reportedly used a fake New Jersey license as identification. Police say they have executed a search warrant at the hostel.

Authorities have also been doing a “full sweep” of Central Park – a 2.5 mile (4km) long and 0.5 miles (0.8km) wide area in the heart of the city – and on Friday found a backpack they believe the suspect was carrying at the time of the attack. It has been sent for forensic testing, CBS reports.

Officials are also attempting to make use of DNA evidence, including a water bottle and candy wrapper from the crime scene, as well as a Starbucks coffee cup, that they believe are linked to the suspect.

A mobile phone was also discovered in an alley along the suspect’s escape route.

So far, fingerprints found left behind have been unusable for identification, police said.