Video emerges of alleged Istanbul gunman before club attack

Footage emerges showing the alleged suspect responsible for the New Year's attack that killed 39 people.

"Selfie" video shows Istanbul's attack alleged gunman
A video showing "selfie" footage of the alleged gunman responsible for Istanbul's New Year's attack emerged on Tuesday.

The video showed the suspect recording the footage on a mobile phone in Taksim Square, Istanbul on an unknown date.

Turkish authorities are close to fully identifying the gunman responsible for the attack on an Istanbul nightclub which killed 39 people on New Year's Day and have detained eight other people, the government's spokesman, deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.

One Israeli national was killed and another was wounded in the shooting.

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Monday for the attack.

The attacker was believed to have taken a taxi from the southern Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul and, because of the busy traffic, got out and walked the last four minutes to the entrance of the nightclub, newspaper Haberturk said.

He pulled his Kalashnikov rifle from a suitcase at the side of the road, opened fire on those at the door, then threw two hand grenades after entering, Haberturk said, without citing its sources. It said six empty magazines were found at the scene and that he was estimated to have fired at least 180 bullets.

Jpost.com Staff contributed to this report.