Maybe I’m just face-blind or being dense but the photos from the scene of the crime look like a different dude than the ginning hostel check in guy. The jackets and backpacks are different. Although people can have multiple jackets and backpacks. We don’t see much of the shooters face but the eyebrows look different. Although, people can pluck/shave eyebrows. I guess the happy hostel guy would have come forward and been like “WTF?” and “I have an alibi” if it wasn’t him?
I mean, typically I’d agree with you, but there’s a small chance that this is smarter than a lot of people are initially thinking (but still fucked up none the less) … maybe someone at NYPD found a video / picture of a dude that they know was not the dude. Maybe they have evidence that the guy in this picture in the green jacket is 100% innocent. Maybe they arrest him, his lawyer gets him out and they all of a sudden have no leads at all. Cold case.