The FBI and NYPD said Wednesday they've identified several persons of interest in the 2008 bombing of an armed forces recruiting station Times Square and increased a reward for information leading to an arrest to $115,000.
The two forces said that they have also identified the origin of the components used to build the bomb that was planted in the Crossroads of the World on March 6, 2008. The attack shattered the window and door of the recruiting center at Seventh Avenue and Broadway, but no one was injured.
The news comes nearly a year after authorities released video showing a suspect moments before the bombing.
Authorities say the suspect was riding a blue Ross bicycle, and came from the east. He is believed to have ridden west on 37th Street, up Sixth Avenue, west on 47th Street and then down Seventh Avenue to the station, and the video released Tuesday shows that path.
Authorities say he rode away south on Broadway after planting the bomb, and police later found a Ross 10-speed bicycle in a Dumpster on East 38th Street that they believe belonged to the bomber.
Although the suspect appears to be working alone, he or she may have had a lookout or surveillance team of as many as five other individuals in Times Square at the time of the attack. It's not clear if any of the people identified by the FBI and NYPD were part of that team.
At the bomb scene, investigators recovered a metal ammunition can filled halfway with black powder and detonated with a fuse.
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The device is similar to two other unsolved bombings by a suspect on a bicycle in Manhattan -- one outside the British consulate on East 42nd Street in 2005 and another outside the Mexican consulate on East 37th Street in 2007.
The FBI and NYPD say the three attacks may be connected.
The FBI tipline is 212-384-1000.
