Chaos breaks out at World Series of Poker after shattered glass mistaken for gunfire

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Players and spectators at the World Series of Poker scrambled for cover after a smashed glass window was mistaken for the sound of gunfire.

People ran from the MGM Grand on Las Vegas’s famous Strip just before 10.45pm on Saturday when the loud noise was heard across the venue.

Video posted to social media showed people running from the building and one video Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers approach the hotel and casino with their guns drawn and lowered.

Cap. Branden Clarkson said that officers were called to reports of possible gunfire and instead found a shattered glass door at the valet entrance of the MGM Grand.

Rocks were also seen in images shared on social media around the entrance.

“Reports of a shooting near the MGM tonight are unfounded,” police tweeted. “Initial reports are a glass door shattered causing a loud noise which startled people in the valet area”.

The Las Vegas police captain added: “It caused a loud bang, there was a subsequent panic, thinking it was possible gunfire given the nature of what’s been happening across the nation”.

In 2017, a music festival in Las Vegas became the sight of the deadliest mass shooting in US history when 60 people were shot dead by a gunman.

More recently, a series of mass shootings have occurred across the country, including in schools and at a 4 July parade.

One person was detained by Las Vegas police and the unnamed individual faces a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property, Capt. Clarkson added.

One person had minor injuries from falling while running from the scene. Nobody required hospital treatment.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press