The lone American confirmed to have been injured in a New Year’s terror attack on an Istanbul nightclub was saved by his cell phone, his brother told local media Monday.
(FOX)- William Jacob Raak, 35, of Chadds Ford, Pa., was one of an estimated 600 people partying inside the Reina nightclub early on New Year’s Day when a gunman entered and opened fire at around 1:15 a.m. The attack, which was claimed by ISIS, killed at least 39 people, many of them foreigners, and injured close to 70 others.
Raak, who was at the club with a friend from Dubai, was shot in the hip. His brother, Michael Raak, told NBC10 that the bullet “hit his phone” before traveling to Jacob Raak’s knee.
Doctors told Raak that the cell phone prevented the bullet from hitting a major artery, likely saving the American’s life.
In an interview with NBC News, Raak said he laid on the floor of the nightclub and played dead as the gunman moved through the bloody scene. He described himself as “probably the luckiest person in the whole thing.”
“When he shot me I didn’t move — I just let him shoot me,” he said. “I was shot when I was already on the ground. He was shooting people that he had already shot.”