Stubob
07-07-2007, 09:22 AM
16 shots fired; five injured
LAS VEGAS - A man on a balcony over the New York-New York casino floor
opened fire on the gamblers below early Friday, wounding four people before
he was tackled by off-duty military reservists, police said.
A fifth person was hurt in a crush of people fleeing the casino.
"It was crazy, pandemonium," said Jade Jacobson, 28, a tourist from Deland,
Fla., whose cousin, a dance teacher from Pennsylvania, was wounded in the
leg.
"People were running and jumping over slot machines and knocking over
chairs," Jacobson said. "All I was thinking was that I could die right now."
Police said 16 shots were fired, and again revised the number of injured in
the 12:45 a.m. shooting.
Las Vegas police Capt. James Dillon said a woman and a teenage boy were
wounded; a man was grazed by a bullet; a woman was hit by a bullet fragment
or shrapnel; and a woman was bruised and scraped when she fell amid the
crowd of people exiting the casino. Injuries were described as minor, and
none of the injured remained hospitalized Friday morning, authorities said.
Steven Zegrean, 51, of Las Vegas, was arrested on felony charges including
attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm in
an occupied structure, Dillon said.
"All we know so far is that he was emotionally distraught," Dillon said. "I
can say with absolute certainty that this has nothing whatever to do with
terrorism."
Zegrean emptied a semiautomatic handgun toward the casino floor before he
was tackled by an Army reservist and a Navy reservist before others joined
and held him for police, Dillon said. He said he did not know the names of
the people who intervened.
Dillon said police have a casino surveillance video that shows the shooting,
but said he did not know whether it would be made public before court
proceedings next week.
Melody Zegrean, 43, a Las Vegas resident who identified herself as Steven
Zegrean's cousin, said he was divorced for several years and estranged from
most of his family since his ex-wife remarried.
"I love my cousin and everything," she said, "but his temper and not being
able to relate has really gotten worse recently. He's been threatening the
family for some time now. He's been pushing everyone away."
Melody Zegrean characterized Steven Zegrean as a Hungarian immigrant and
unemployed house painter who liked to gamble. She said she believed her
cousin owned a handgun that he used to keep in his van.
Troy Sanchez, a 13-year-old from Van Nuys, Calif., who was wounded in the
left ankle, said he heard more than 10 gunshots from a balcony over an
escalator that takes customers to the casino floor. He was with his mother
and older brother, who works at the casino's Manhattan Express roller
coaster.
"We thought it was fireworks," the teenager said. "I didn't even see the guy
at all."
Police said they believed Zegrean entered the casino from a walkway
connecting the New York-New York to the MGM Grand, and walked past a vendor
and a shop before opening fire near the top of the bank of escalators.
"It seems like some local guy who snapped and went to the hotel to do it,"
police Officer Ramon Denby said.
Sanchez and Jacobson's cousin, who declined to be identified, were treated
at University Medical Center in Las Vegas and released. Dillon said both
people with graze wounds and the woman who was bruised in the crowd were
treated at the scene and released.
Larry Ramos, 33, a tourist from Lansing, Mich., said he arrived at the front
of the hotel to find people rushing out.
"There were flip-flops just laying all over the place like people were
running out of their shoes," Ramos said. "Within a minute and a half there
were 30 to 40 police there. The cops just swarmed the place with M16s and
their guns out."
Ramos said bystanders cheered for the wounded when they were wheeled out of
the casino to ambulances, and later talked about the people who tackled the
gunman.
"People don't put up with stuff after 9-11 no more," he said, adding that he
was surprised that the casino never shut down.
"That's what amazed me, Ramos said. "They locked down the tables, but they
let people still keep playing the slots."
The 2,000-room hotel-casino, which opened in 1997, features a facade
replicating the New York City skyline, with a 47-story knockoff of the
Empire State Building, a 150-foot Statue of Liberty and a Coney Island-style
roller coaster. It is owned by MGM Mirage Inc.
Casino spokeswoman Yvette Monet said its operations had been fully restored
Friday morning.
"Guests are being informed that it's business as usual," Monet said.
This was e-mailed by a Vietnam Vet
LAS VEGAS - A man on a balcony over the New York-New York casino floor
opened fire on the gamblers below early Friday, wounding four people before
he was tackled by off-duty military reservists, police said.
A fifth person was hurt in a crush of people fleeing the casino.
"It was crazy, pandemonium," said Jade Jacobson, 28, a tourist from Deland,
Fla., whose cousin, a dance teacher from Pennsylvania, was wounded in the
leg.
"People were running and jumping over slot machines and knocking over
chairs," Jacobson said. "All I was thinking was that I could die right now."
Police said 16 shots were fired, and again revised the number of injured in
the 12:45 a.m. shooting.
Las Vegas police Capt. James Dillon said a woman and a teenage boy were
wounded; a man was grazed by a bullet; a woman was hit by a bullet fragment
or shrapnel; and a woman was bruised and scraped when she fell amid the
crowd of people exiting the casino. Injuries were described as minor, and
none of the injured remained hospitalized Friday morning, authorities said.
Steven Zegrean, 51, of Las Vegas, was arrested on felony charges including
attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm in
an occupied structure, Dillon said.
"All we know so far is that he was emotionally distraught," Dillon said. "I
can say with absolute certainty that this has nothing whatever to do with
terrorism."
Zegrean emptied a semiautomatic handgun toward the casino floor before he
was tackled by an Army reservist and a Navy reservist before others joined
and held him for police, Dillon said. He said he did not know the names of
the people who intervened.
Dillon said police have a casino surveillance video that shows the shooting,
but said he did not know whether it would be made public before court
proceedings next week.
Melody Zegrean, 43, a Las Vegas resident who identified herself as Steven
Zegrean's cousin, said he was divorced for several years and estranged from
most of his family since his ex-wife remarried.
"I love my cousin and everything," she said, "but his temper and not being
able to relate has really gotten worse recently. He's been threatening the
family for some time now. He's been pushing everyone away."
Melody Zegrean characterized Steven Zegrean as a Hungarian immigrant and
unemployed house painter who liked to gamble. She said she believed her
cousin owned a handgun that he used to keep in his van.
Troy Sanchez, a 13-year-old from Van Nuys, Calif., who was wounded in the
left ankle, said he heard more than 10 gunshots from a balcony over an
escalator that takes customers to the casino floor. He was with his mother
and older brother, who works at the casino's Manhattan Express roller
coaster.
"We thought it was fireworks," the teenager said. "I didn't even see the guy
at all."
Police said they believed Zegrean entered the casino from a walkway
connecting the New York-New York to the MGM Grand, and walked past a vendor
and a shop before opening fire near the top of the bank of escalators.
"It seems like some local guy who snapped and went to the hotel to do it,"
police Officer Ramon Denby said.
Sanchez and Jacobson's cousin, who declined to be identified, were treated
at University Medical Center in Las Vegas and released. Dillon said both
people with graze wounds and the woman who was bruised in the crowd were
treated at the scene and released.
Larry Ramos, 33, a tourist from Lansing, Mich., said he arrived at the front
of the hotel to find people rushing out.
"There were flip-flops just laying all over the place like people were
running out of their shoes," Ramos said. "Within a minute and a half there
were 30 to 40 police there. The cops just swarmed the place with M16s and
their guns out."
Ramos said bystanders cheered for the wounded when they were wheeled out of
the casino to ambulances, and later talked about the people who tackled the
gunman.
"People don't put up with stuff after 9-11 no more," he said, adding that he
was surprised that the casino never shut down.
"That's what amazed me, Ramos said. "They locked down the tables, but they
let people still keep playing the slots."
The 2,000-room hotel-casino, which opened in 1997, features a facade
replicating the New York City skyline, with a 47-story knockoff of the
Empire State Building, a 150-foot Statue of Liberty and a Coney Island-style
roller coaster. It is owned by MGM Mirage Inc.
Casino spokeswoman Yvette Monet said its operations had been fully restored
Friday morning.
"Guests are being informed that it's business as usual," Monet said.
This was e-mailed by a Vietnam Vet