GREENVILLE: The State Department has confirmed that a Delaware business owner originally from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, was one of nearly 70 people injured during a New Year's Eve celebration in Istanbul.
WCAU-TV reports that the brother of William Jacob Raak says the 35-year-old was visiting friends in Istanbul.
Michael Raak, of South Philadelphia, says his brother, a small business owner from Greenville, Delaware, called about 7:30 p.m. ET on New Year's Eve to say he had been shot in the leg.
Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin has said the attacker, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian outside the Reina club around 1:15 a.m. before entering and firing at people partying inside.
At least 39 people, mostly foreigners, were killed and close to 70 others were injured.
Private NTV news channel said the assailant was wearing a Santa Claus outfit when he entered the upscale nightclub on the shore of the Bosporus straight, on the European side of the city — a claim Prime Minister Binali Yildirim denied.
Security camera footage obtained by The Associated Press from Haberturk newspaper shows what appears to be a man dressed in black and carrying a backpack as he shoots down a police officer outside the nightclub. Footage taken by a different camera inside Reina shows a figure wearing different clothes and what could be a Santa Claus hat.
Yildirim said the attacker left a gun at the club and escaped by "taking advantage of the chaos" that ensued. Some customers reportedly jumped into the waters of the Bosporus to escape the attack.
Mehmet Dag, 22, said he was passing by the club when he saw a man shoot at a police officer and a bystander. He said the attacker then targeted security guards, gunning them down and entering the club.
"Once he went in, we don't know what happened. There were gun sounds, and after two minutes the sound of an explosion," Dag said.
Turkish media said the local victims included a 22-year-old police officer and a 47-year-old travel agent, both of whom were shot outside the club.
One was given a funeral Sunday in Istanbul, where his two sons joined the mourners gathered around the flag-draped casket, the private Dogan news agency reported.
Ayhan Arik, a tourism company employee who had taken foreign guests to the nightclub, was shot in the head, the news agency said.
On Sunday, heavily armed police blocked the snowy street in front of the nightclub. The entrance was covered with blue plastic sheeting below a Turkish flag. Police also patrolled the Asian side of the Bosporus on the other side of the club.
Crime scene investigators were seen inside the nightclub searching through mingled piles of chairs, tables and pieces of clothing left behind during the panic among the guests.
There were emotional scenes in front of a city morgue where the dead were taken for identification. Some relatives cried out and fell to the ground as they apparently learned the fate of their loved ones.
The U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul on Sunday warned American citizens to keep their movements in the city "to an absolute minimum." A statement reminded U.S. citizens that extremists "are continuing aggressive efforts to conduct attacks in areas where U.S. citizens and expatriates reside or frequent."
The United States denied reports in Turkish new outlets and on social media that its security agencies knew in advance that the nightclub was at risk of a terror attack. The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said in a statement that "contrary to rumors circulating in social media, the U.S. Government had no information about threats to specific entertainment venues, including the Reina Club."
Turkey faces a wide spectrum of security threats.
The Islamic State group claims to have cells in the country. Analysts think it was behind suicide bombings last January and March that targeted tourists on Istanbul's iconic Istiklal Street as well as a high-casualty suicide bomb and gun attack at Ataturk Airport in June.
In December, IS released a video purportedly showing the killing of two Turkish soldiers and urged its supporters to "conquer" Istanbul. Turkey's jets regularly bomb the group in the northern Syrian town of Al-Bab. Turkish authorities have not confirmed the authenticity of the video.
Turkey's violent 2016 also reflects the intensification of an armed conflict between the government and Kurdish rebels. Turkey-based Kurdish groups have claimed multiple suicide attacks. The government has said Kurdish affiliates in Syria and Iraq share responsibility.
Complicating matters, Turkey endured a coup attempt July 15, which the government blamed on a U.S-based Islamist cleric. A state of emergency has been in force since then, and authorities have purged key institutions, including the army and police.
The violence has left the nation on edge and kept tourists at bay. In Istanbul, a bustling city bridging Europe and Asia, the toll on the economy is evidenced in the closure of iconic restaurants and lowered hotel prices.
The nightclub attack drew quick condemnation from the West and Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to Turkey's leader, saying that "it is hard to imagine a more cynical crime than killing innocent people during New Year celebrations."
"However, terrorists don't share moral values. Our common duty is to combat terrorists' aggression," Putin said.
The White House condemned what it called a "horrific terrorist attack" and offered U.S. help to Turkey. The U.N. Security Council condemned the "heinous and barbaric" assault in the "strongest terms."
Yildirim, the prime minister, vowed to keep fighting terrorism, adding that "the terror that happens here today may happen in another country in the world tomorrow."