Istanbul nightclub shooting suspect trained in Afghanistan, official says
(FOX)- The terror suspect accused in the shooting rampage at a nightclub in Istanbul early on New Year’s Day trained in Afghanistan before traveling to Turkey and launching his attack, a Turkish official announced Tuesday, hours after police finally pulled the bloodied man from the home where he’d been hiding.
Abdulkadir Masharipov, the Uzbek national wanted in the murders of 39 people at the Reina nightclub, was arrested after a police raid on his friend’s house in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district.
Turkish media previously had given his first name as Abdulgadir.
Masharipov confessed to the massacre and his fingerprints matched those of the attacker, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told reporters, saying the suspect trained in Afghanistan before entering Turkey in January 2016.
Sahin said Masharipov was born in 1983, but did not give an exact date.
The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.