ISTANBUL – The gunman suspected of killing 39 people during a New Year’s party at an Istanbul nightclub was arrested overnight after eluding the authorities for weeks, Turkish officials confirmed Tuesday.
Officials identified the suspected attacker as Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Islamic State militant who was born in Uzbekistan and had received training in Afghanistan. He was captured in Istanbul’s high-rise Esenyurt district and detained along with four other people, according to the semi-official Anadolu news agency
“The perpetrator of this vile attack has been captured, and the will and powers behind this will be revealed,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara, the Turkish capital.
The attack on the waterfront Reina nightclub was among Turkey’s worst mass killings ever. The details and surveillance footage shocked the country, depicting a brazen assault, with the gunman shooting his way through the front entrance of the club, one of Turkey’ most famous venues, as people fell around him.
The victims included more than two dozen foreigners as well as a Turkish security guard who, just weeks before, had survived another terrorist attack.
The Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility, framing the carnage as retaliation for Turkey’s involvement in Syria’s civil war. It was the first major attack on civilians in Turkey formally claimed by the Islamic State, adding to the litany of security threats facing the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Vasip Sahin, Istanbul’s governor, said on Tuesday that Masharipov was born in 1983 and had come to Turkey last year. Masharipov had changed locations several times in the weeks since the nightclub attack, he added, calling the suspect “well-trained.”
The authorities had found nearly $200,000 in cash at the apartment where Masharipov was captured, said the governor.
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