CCTV footage shows Istanbul attacker entering nightclub

Record ID: 162996

  • Title: CCTV footage shows Istanbul attacker entering nightclub
  • Date: 3rd January 2017
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JANUARY 3, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) OWNER OF REINA NIGHTCLUB, MEHMET KOCARSLAN, SAYING: "He came in a taxi - as you know there is a parking lot after passing by Reina - and the taxi parked there. Then he got out and made preparations on a car's bonnet for three to four minutes but his actions were blinded out because of the reflections of another car's lights."
  • Embargoed: 18th January 2017 15:47
  • Keywords: Turkey attack selfie gunman gunfire. wounded casualties nightclub gun attack Reina club
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
  • Reuters ID: LVA0055XJ04ZR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: NONE OF THE PEOPLE SHOWN IN THE FOOTAGE AS THE GUNMAN ENTERED SUSTAINED GUNSHOT WOUNDS
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS ORIGINAL MOBILE MATERIAL
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS STILL PHOTOS
    Ali Unal was standing at the entrance to Istanbul's Reina nightclub on New Year's Day when a gunman entered the club and opened fire, killing 39 people and injuring many more.
    CCTV footage showed the Unal falling to the ground and a bouncer ducking, neither of them being hit, as the attacker stormed past them firing his weapon.
    "It is in the surveillance camera footage, I am the one who is throwing himself on the ground. We had a broken ramp there; I slipped and fell on the ground, he was shooting as I fell and the iron fence broke into pieces. The weapon he was using is a special one - he came to carry out a massacre," Unal told Reuters on Tuesday (January 3).
    The attacker, who remains at large, shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the nightclub on Sunday (January 1). 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.
    "He carried out a massacre, he was like a mad dog. As I fell, I couldn't see how many people were there or what it was, I just saw an armed man who turned at me," Unal said.
    Mobile phone footage showed the inside of the club riddled with bullet holes.
    A newspaper report and a security source said on Tuesday that the gunman appears to have been well versed in guerrilla warfare and may have trained in Syria.
    In a statement claiming the attack on Monday (January 2), 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.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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