A Los Angeles casino and some nearby buildings had to be evacuated after someone phoned in a bomb threat. The individual demanded $50,000 or else he would enter the gaming floor and open fire. He also mentioned his associate could plant a bomb at the property if necessary.
The call led to the evacuation of hundreds of people from the Park West Bicycle Casino and Hotel in Bell Gardens at about 4pm on Thursday. Law enforcement arrived at the scene quickly, complete with tactical vehicles. The call was eventually deemed to be a prank.
Talking about the need to be cautious about prematurely ruling out a threat to be a prank, Bell Gardens Police Chief Paul Camacho said: “We still have to go through our due diligence, which is public safety, making sure that there is nothing in there.” This process took about five hours from start to finish.
gamblers could go to the cashier before leaving
NBC Los Angeles spoke with some people who were present in the casino at the time of the evacuation. One person, Norman Garcia, said that initially there was “a lot of confusion” because people didn’t know the reason for the evacuation. He noted that gamblers could go to the cashier before leaving, which gave the impression that the matter wasn’t too urgent.
Several other notable locations in Los Angeles received similar swatting phone calls in recent days, including Van Nuys Airport and LAX Airport.
