A shooter opened fire inside New York-New York casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip over the busy holiday weekend. The guy stood on top of the two long elevators that go down to the casino floor and fired 16 bullets before he was tackled.

Anyone who’s ever been to New York-New York knows how open the casino floor is to that balcony perch and how many people would have been sitting ducks on a busy Friday night. It’s fortunate and amazing that no one was killed.

What isn’t amazing is the fact that some people reportedly kept playing their slot machines through the shooting or that the pit bosses stayed and guarded the casino’s chips rather than run as bullets flew. That’s just Vegas.

It would have been shocking if all the gamblers had actually left. A few no doubt thought they were assured of getting a lady luck jackpot for their “commitment.”

All those stories you hear about Vegas being like no other town on earth are anything but exaggerations. What’s a few bullets? New York-New York never even thought of completely closing down in the wake of the shooting. In Vegas, closing’s the crazy talk.

There is no word yet on any motive for the shooter, a 51-year-old who police said had wandered the Strip for days. Though as hot as it’s been in the West, if he claims heat insanity, he might just get acquitted by a jury of his peers.

Permalink 6 comments