Thread: Istanbul nightclub gunman 'confesses' to attack after arrest

I wonder how they got him to confess so quickly?

The man suspected of carrying out the New Year's Eve shooting at an Istanbul nightclub has been arrested, Turkey's prime minister has confirmed.

Binali Yildirim said the man, identified as Uzbekistan-born Abdulkadir Masharipov, was being questioned by police over the attack at Reina nightclub, which killed 39 people and wounded 69 others.

According to local TV, the suspect was arrested after a raid on a home in Istanbul's Esenyurt district. He was reportedly found with his four-year-old son and four others - three women and one man.

Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said Masharipov has confessed to carrying out the attack, and added that fingerprints found at the nightclub apparently matched the suspect.

He is thought to have entered Turkey in January 2016.

Masharipov underwent medical checks before being taken to a police station for questioning, Hurriyet newspaper reports.

Turkish news channel NTV said police had established the suspect's whereabouts four days ago, but delayed the raid so they could monitor his movements.

Following the arrest, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu thanked police and security organisations "who caught the Reina attacker in the name of the people".

At the time of the massacre, the nightclub was packed with up to 600 revellers celebrating the New Year.

CCTV footage showed a man shooting dead policeman Burak Yildiz and travel agent Ayhan Arik at the front of the venue, before entering and firing 120 bullets at party-goers.

Witnesses described diving under tables during the attack, while one reveller told how she had to lift dead bodies off her to escape the building.

People from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and Morocco were among the victims.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the atrocity, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.

The arrest comes almost a fortnight after Turkey's deputy prime minister said security forces had identified the potential whereabouts of the gunman.

Veysi Kaynak said the "specially-trained" attacker carried out the shooting alone, but was likely part of a "well-formed" larger cell.

Istanbul nightclub gunman 'confesses' to attack after arrest

A slow horrible death is what he deserves. Then do all his family.

Martyrs my arse!

Glad they have removed the danger off of the streets, this one is a bit different from the others in that he didn't fight to the death to gain martyrdom, he went into hiding.