Turkey Close to Identifying Mass Shooting Suspect, American Survives by Playing Dead

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus says authorities have the fingerprints and a general description of the gunman responsible for the New Year's mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub attack. Kurtulmus says investigators are close to identifying the suspect.

A massive manhunt is now underway as Turkish police are also investigating whether the killer was part of the same cell that carried out a deadly suicide attack at Istanbul's airport last June.

The deputy prime minister also reports that eight people had been in police custody in connection to the attack.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the shooting.

The IS-linked Aamaq News Agency said the New Year's attack was carried by a "heroic soldier of the caliphate who attacked the most famous nightclub where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast."

It took the killer just seven minutes to unleash his mayhem of terror.

From the moment he arrived by taxi at the popular nightclub on the east side of Istanbul, the gunman started spraying his bullets.

When the brutal assault was over, 39 people, including 27 foreigners were dead. 69 others were wounded, including American Jake Raak, who said he was shot in the hip and the bullet traveled to his knee.

"I saw one person shooting," said Raak, who is from Delaware. The State Department said he was the only U.S. citizen wounded in the attack.

Raak told NBC News that he survived by playing dead. He said he remained silent and did not move, even after being shot.

"When he shot me I didn't move - I just let him shoot me," he told NBC News. "I was shot when I was already on the ground. He was shooting people that he had already shot."

Raak's mother, Grace Raak, told The Associated Press that her son traveled to Istanbul for his birthday.

"We are praying for those that were injured, for their speedy recovery, and we're praying for the family and friends of those who lost loved ones," Grace Raak said.

Raak, along with some 600 people, were inside the venue celebrating the New Year. Then, in walked the terrorist who reportedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he began firing at will.

A security camera captured bullets grazing the bar's railing and a man in red, trying desperately to escape, but is trapped as the killer approaches, firing a single shot from his AK-47.

"People were falling down because of the shooting," said eyewitness Komron Saidaliev. "It was a terrible thing."

ISIS, which described Turkey as "the servant of the cross," said in a statement that its soldier carried out the attack using an automatic weapon and hand grenades in "revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders" of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

"The nightclub is a target, it's a symbol of secular decadence that makes it very attractive to jihadi terrorists," said Col. Steve Ganyard, a former State Department official. 

Turkey, a NATO ally, is fighting alongside the US against ISIS and has witnessed 18 major terror attacks on its soil since 2015. The January 1st attack was number 19.