Las Vegas shooting: Casinos will respond with tighter security, experts say
After a gunman opened fire at a concert in Las Vegas Sunday night, in what is being called the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, security experts predict casinos and open-air venues will bump up safety measures to protect patrons.
"This event will cause hotels and casinos to consider weapons screening,” Wendy Patrick, attorney and threat assessment expert, told FOX Business. “Outdoor events will be employing additional security to monitor nearby buildings for sniper fire. After last night, that will include buildings that do not have any immediately observable open spaces, because a window can always be shot out of."
While Nevada is an open carry state, individual casinos can deny entrance to people carrying firearms if they choose.
Patrick Brosnan, a former NYPD Detective who now runs a private security firm called Brosnan Risk Consultants, told FOX Business Americans can expect to see a “tremendous uptick in security and other measures,” compounding on a trend that began in the aftermath of the coordinated terror attacks in France in 2015.
However, more invasive measures like bag searches or metal detectors could turn away potential Vegas-goers, Brosnan said.
“The operating premise of Vegas is ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,’” he said. “[Those security measures] might serve as an unmasking mechanism, so I’d think it would deter, absolutely.”
Las Vegas tourism is a major contributor to the local economy, generating $59.6 billion in 2016, according to a study by Nevada-based consulting firm Applied Analysis.
But those types of measures are only one way to attempt to “prevent the unpreventable,” Brosnan said.
A major way the former NYPD detective believes the United States can better respond to active shooter, and other, emergency situations, is by implementing a protocol to enlist the manpower of off-duty policemen, which he said could mean requiring officers to carry firearms even when they’re not on active-duty.
In the shooting that occurred during singer Jason Aldean’s performance at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, 50 people have died and more than 400 were injured. The gunman, who shot himself when police arrived, is believed to have used an assault rifle to fire shots from a window on the 32nd floor of the hotel.