A 9/11 In Las Vegas? Impossible. No Clocks
EVERYONE knows what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But after a shooting and a bombing in the past few months, the New York Times wonders what additional risks hedonistic visitors to Vegas might be taking.
In May, a 24-year-old restaurant worker was killed by a bomb planted in a coffee cup set on top of his car at the Luxor Hotel-Casino. Two men have been accused of murdering him in a dispute over a woman.
Last month, Steven Zegrean opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun from a balcony overlooking the New York-New York casino, wounding four people before he was tackled by passersby. According to police, the suicidal Zegrean was hoping officers would kill him.
Both recent attacks were small scale. But there the Times questions whether security in Vegas is up to scratch.
One of those who tackled Zegrean, a former Marine, tells the paper he does not know how security officers could not have noticed a man who was wearing a trench coat in 115 degree weather and who had been pacing the balcony for hours.
Bill Young, a security chief for Station Casinos, tells the Times an attack on the scale of 9/11 is unlikely, but concedes that it is “very difficult to prevent lone criminals who have the intentions of harming themselves and others.”
Nevertheless, an attack on the scale of 9/11 is not out of the question. According to the Times, several September 11 hijackers visited Vegas for “planning sessions.” And two men who were arrested recently over an alleged plot to bomb Detroit were discovered to have videos of Vegas in their possession.
Although Vages is overrun with security personnel and video surveillance on the casino floor, the 40 million annual visitors are pretty much allowed to wander freely in and out of buildings.
Christopher E. McGoey, a Vegas security consultant tells the Times: “It’s a vacation place. People don’t want to be walking around with passports or going through metal detectors or screenings. It’s always going to be a relatively soft target.”
Posted: 3rd, August 2007 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
