Istanbul gunman captured after more than 2 weeks on run

ISTANBUL (AP) – Turkish police captured the gunman who carried out the deadly New Year’s nightclub attack in Istanbul, with officials saying Tuesday that he’s an Uzbekistan national who trained in Afghanistan and confessed to the massacre.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara that the man was being questioned by police and expressed hope that the interrogation would unveil the “forces” behind the attack, which killed 39 people and has already been claimed by the Islamic State group.

“The vile terrorist who attacked the place of entertainment on New Year’s eve and led to the loss of so many lives has been captured,” Yildirim said.

He added: “What is important is for the suspect to be captured and for the forces behind it to be revealed.”

The premier wouldn’t provide further details on the arrest or the investigation, saying authorities would provide specifics “in time.”

Moments later in separate remarks, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said that the suspect is an Uzbekistan national who trained in Afghanistan. He is believed to have entered Turkey in January 2016. Sahin identified him as Abdulkadir Masharipov, saying he was born in 1983 without giving an exact birthday. Turkish media are reporting the suspect’s first name as Abdulgadir.

Sahin said that the man, captured late Monday, confessed to carrying out the massacre and that his fingerprints matched those of the attacker.

The suspect, according to Sahin, was a well-educated terrorist who speaks four languages and had clearly carried out the attack in the name of IS.

The police operation to apprehend him drew on the review of 7,200 hours of security camera footage and involved around 2,000 police officers, including special units, the governor said. Authorities seized nearly $200,000 during the suspect’s arrest.

The statements come hours after police began questioning the suspect after he was caught in a police operation at a luxury residential complex in Istanbul.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said that a man from Kyrgyzstan and three women – from Somalia, Senegal and Egypt – were also detained in the raid, while the gunman’s 4-year-old son was taken into protective custody.

Hurriyet newspaper earlier reported that the alleged gunman’s wife and 1-year old daughter were caught in a police operation on Jan. 12.

IS group has claimed responsibility for the nightclub massacre, saying the attack in the first hours of Jan. 1 was in reprisal for Turkish military operations in northern Syria. The man identified as the suspect had been on the run since the attack.

Anadolu said police have also carried out raids on members of a suspected Uzbek IS cell in five Istanbul neighborhoods, and detained several people.

Photographs from raids, widely published in the Turkish media, showed a bruised, black-haired man in a gray, bloodied shirt being held by his neck. NTV television said the gunman had resisted arrest.

Hundreds of people were gathered at the swanky Reina nightclub to celebrate the end of a tumultuous 2016 only to become the first victims of 2017. The gunman shot a police officer and a civilian outside the club, before storming the premises.

Most of the dead in the attack on the upscale club were foreign nationals, mainly from the Middle East.