Istanbul ‘nightclub killer’ arrested
THE fugitive suspected of killing 39 people after opening fire on New Year’s Eve revellers in an Istanbul nightclub was arrested last night.
A man identified as Abdulkadir Masharipov was found in the Esenyurt district of the Turkish city, around 25 miles from the Reina club where the attack took place.
Last night a picture emerged of the suspect looking bloodied and bruised. According to local reports, he was transferred to hospital for a medical assessment before he was taken to police headquarters for questioning.
Police identified Masharipov, from Uzbekistan, as their prime suspect a week ago.
Turkish media last night said he was apprehended at the house of a friend, and may have been with his four-year-old son at the time. Last night a second man was also detained by the Turkish authorities and was seen with his hands bound behind his back with plastic cable ties while police pinned him to the ground. His identity was not known.
In an attempt to capture Masharipov, Turkish security forces had raided the home of his wife and subsequently detained several of his family members.
His wife, whose identity was not revealed by the authorities, said she had not realised her husband had been planning to carry out an attack.
She said: ‘I learned about the attack from TV. I didn’t know that my husband was a Daesh [Islamic State] terrorist, let alone a sympa- thiser.’ IS had claimed responsibility for the attack and said that it was in revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
The suspect arrived at the nightclub by taxi and rushed in with a long-barrelled gun which he had retrieved from the boot of the car.
The Reina nightclub, which sits on the banks of the Bosporus Strait, is an upmarket venue and has been visited by stars such as Daniel Craig, Uma Thurman and Kylie Minogue.
At the time of the attack there were around 700 people in the club. Some were forced to jump into the river to swim to safety.
The attack took place despite increased security measures in the wealthy neighbourhood.
In the aftermath of the attack, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: ‘They are working to destroy our country’s morale and create chaos.’