Man in August Sketch Is No Longer Suspect in Shopkeeper Killings As detectives search for the gunman who is thought to have killed three shopkeepers in Brooklyn, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Tuesday that investigators had ruled out one suspect: a man whose sketch was distributed by the police in August after the second slaying. Mr. Kelly said he believed that investigators had interviewed the man depicted in the sketch and concluded that he was no longer of interest. "It's no longer relevant," Mr. Kelly told reporters. That individual washed out. The commissioner said investigators were still seeking to determine the identity of a man spotted in security video carrying a duffel bag on Flatbush Avenue, a block and a half from the scene of the latest murder, which occurred Friday. The man appears to be middle-aged, with a mustache and neatly parted hair. "We obviously would like that individual to come forward and contact us," Mr. Kelly said at the news conference at Police Headquarters. The video was taken about 6 p.m., slightly more than an hour before the body of the 78-year-old shop owner, Rahmatollah Vahidipour, was discovered in the She She boutique, where he worked alone selling dresses and blouses to a mostly older clientele. The police released an image of the man Sunday night, and it has since circulated widely in the news media. Mr. Kelly said detectives were interested in speaking with the man "so we can talk to him about the circumstances going on in the immediate area at that time." Mr. Kelly said, "We want to talk to anybody who was in the area at the time." Investigators believe Mr. Vahidipour's murder is connected to the Aug. 2 killing of Isaac Kadare, 59, in his 99-cent store in Bensonhurst, as well as the July 6 slaying of a Bay Ridge clothing store proprietor, Mohamed Gebeli, 65. The victims were all older shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent, and they were all working alone when they were killed near closing time or shortly afterward. "In all three cases the victim's head was covered by either cardboard or clothing," Mr. Kelly said. The three victims were shot with the same .22-caliber pistol, which investigators determined by examining shell casings discovered at each scene. After Mr. Kadare's murder, a witness told the police of a man nearby who was overheard talking about killing someone. But detectives are not convinced that there is any connection: it may have just been a passer-by who was speaking into a cellphone and sounding off, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said.