The gunman who killed 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Day in an attack claimed by Islamic State appears to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria, a newspaper report and a security source said on Tuesday.
The attacker, who remains at large, shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the exclusive Reina nightclub on Sunday. He then opened fire with an automatic rifle inside, reloading his weapon half a dozen times and shooting the wounded as they lay on the ground.
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In a statement claiming the attack on Monday, Islamic State described the club as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their « apostate holiday » and said the shooting was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
« The assailant has experience in combat for sure … he could have been fighting in Syria for years, » one security source told Reuters, saying that he was likely to have been directed in his actions by the jihadist group.
The Haberturk newspaper said police investigations revealed that the gunman had entered Turkey from Syria and went to the central city of Konya in November, traveling with his wife and two children so as not to attract attention.
Some Turkish media reported that police were seeking a 28-year-old Kyrgyz national believed to be the gunman.
Kyrgyzstan’s security service said it was in touch with Turkish authorities and that a man had been questioned by Kyrgyz police and then released.
Turkish officials have not commented on the details of the investigation. But government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the authorities were close to fully identifying the gunman, after gathering fingerprints and information on his appearance.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said a total of 14 people had been detained. Two foreign nationals were detained at Istanbul’s main Ataturk airport in connection with the attack, broadcaster NTV said.
A selfie video of the alleged attacker, apparently walking around Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, was broadcast by Turkish news channels on Tuesday as police operations to track him down continued.
Kurtulmus made no reference to the Islamic State claim of responsibility on Monday but said it was clear Turkey’s military operations in Syria had annoyed terrorist groups and those behind them.
NATO member Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State and since August has been conducting military operations inside Syria to drive the radical Sunni militants, as well as Kurdish militia fighters, away from its borders.
Islamic State has been blamed for at least half a dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey over the past 18 months; but, other than assassinations, it was the first time it has directly claimed any of them. It made the statement on one of its Telegram channels, a method used after attacks elsewhere.
Haberturk cited a barman at the club as saying the gunman had thrown explosive devices several times during the shooting spree, apparently in order to disorientate people and give himself time to reload.
Several witnesses who spoke to Reuters also said there had been small explosions during the attack.
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ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan. 3 (UPI) — Turkish authorities said 12 people have been arrested over the Reina nightclub New Year’s Eve massacre as investigators close in on identifying the gunman.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said investigators retrieved the gunman’s fingerprints and a basic description, adding that he would be identified « speedily.  » Police have released images of the suspect, who was not named by officials.
TRT World news channel reported the suspected gunman’s name is Lakhe Mashrapov, a 28-year-old from Kyrgyzstan, by comparing the photo provided by police with a passport photo.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Reina nightclub attack in which 39 people died, calling the gunman a « heroic soldier of the caliphate » who carried out the massacre in revenge for Turkey’s operations in Syria.
Police released « selfie » video which show the suspected gunman filming himself while walking around the popular tourist destination of Taksim Square. Authorities did not specify how the video was obtained or when it was filmed.

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Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones faces several charges after he was arrested early Tuesday morning for allegedly pushing a security guard and poking him in the eye and then refusing to comply with law enforcement officers, according to Hamilton County Jail records.
Jones, 33, was arrested and booked in the jail at approximately 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. He faces misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, and a felony count of harassment with a bodily substance.
At his court hearing, where his bond was set at $37,500, Jones denied all charges and said witnesses will back up his side of the story.
When arrested, Jones refused to enter the police car and allegedly pulled away before kicking and head-butting an officer, jail documents said. He then spit on the hand of a nurse while he was being booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center.
The Bengals on Tuesday said they’re aware of the situation and are working to gather information, but are following team policy not to comment on unresolved legal matters.
Jones, who played for the Bengals in Sunday’s season-ending home victory over Baltimore, has repeatedly had legal issues since making his NFL debut with Tennessee after going to college at West Virginia University.
The Atlanta native was acquitted in 2013 on an assault charge in Hamilton County after a woman accused him of punching her in a nightclub. Earlier that year, he paid a fine for disorderly conduct after police accused him of making offensive comments at a traffic stop. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in January 2012 after an arrest at a Cincinnati bar.
In 2012, Jones was ordered to pay $11 million to two Las Vegas strip club employees injured in 2007 when a gunman claiming he was doing Jones’ bidding opened fire outside the club after Jones and his entourage were kicked out. A club manager was paralyzed from the waist down, and a bouncer was wounded. Jones said he had no role in the shootings and pleaded an equivalent of no contest to a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct.
The Titans made Jones the sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft, and he started 28 games in his first two seasons. But arrests and suspensions nearly scuttled his career before the Bengals signed him in 2010 and he became a regular starting defensive back and punt returner.
ESPN’s Katherine Terrell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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