{"id":39938,"date":"2016-09-22T08:57:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T15:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=39938"},"modified":"2016-09-22T10:05:02","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T17:05:02","slug":"las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Stratosphere Shuts Down When Ticking Backpack Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Stratosphere in Las Vegas was evacuated on Wednesday, in response to the discovery of a suspicious ticking backpack in the casino. In the wake of recent pressure cooker homemade bombs being found in lower Manhattan in New York, as well as in Elizabeth, New Jersey earlier this week, authorities were taking no chances.<\/p>\n

\"stratosphere-las-vegas-evacuated-false-bomb-scare\"
The Stratosphere on the North Las Vegas Strip was evacuated and sealed off when security found a ticking backpack on Wednesday. Security protocols nationwide have been tightened following the recent bomb incidents in New York and New Jersey. (Image: Wikipedia.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to local reports, Metro\u2019s CBRNE (chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and explosives) task force rushed to the scene and evacuated guests and staff from the casino and the floor above.<\/p>\n

Traffic was also shut down near the intersection of East St. Louis Avenue and the North end of the Las Vegas Strip where the Stratosphere towers above everything else: it’s the highest structure in not only Sin City, but all of Nevada.<\/p>\n

Stratosphere security described discovering a mysterious backpack making ticking and beeping sounds. On closer inspection, it was found to be a false alarm, with the bag simply containing medical equipment, police said.<\/p>\n

A recent measure passed in Las Vegas limits the presence of backpacks<\/a> at certain high-density events, such as New Year’s Eve and July Fourth celebrations on the Strip.<\/p>\n

Targeting Tourism<\/h2>\n

The extra precautions highlights public jumpiness following the recent bomb attacks in New York, and the realization that Las Vegas, as a gambling hub and major tourist destination, must be considered a target of terrorism.<\/p>\n

Tourists have been specifically targeted by ISIS, notably in Turkey and Tunisia, because terrorists see weakening the tourism industry as a way to harm the economies of their enemies. In June, ISIS released a video threatening to attack the Las Vegas Strip, as well as San Francisco.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, however, Metro Captain Andrew Walsh moved to assure visitors that the threat to Las Vegas was low.<\/p>\n

“This started because hotel security was doing their job,\u201d he said. \u201cThey saw something and they said something. We were prepared to respond to it with the resources you see out here. Come to Vegas, it’s a safe place to be and we’ll keep you safe while you’re here.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Security Scare<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not just in Las Vegas that people are showing hyper-vigilance these days, of course.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a German casino was completely evacuated due to a perceived bomb scare, which turned out to be caused by a vibrating sex toy in a trashcan. According to German media, an employee of the Casino Halberstadt\u00a0panicked after hearing a ticking and vibrating noise emanating from a receptacle in the men\u2019s restroom.<\/p>\n

The entire block was cordoned off before the bomb squad was able to neutralize the offending article. Police said the battery-operated device was turned to its \u201chighest setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stratosphere itself had a major security scare last year when an Indiana man rammed his Ford F-150 pick-up truck straight through the casino\u2019s main glass doors and into the lobby. Amazingly, no one was hurt. The driver, Ryan Brown, was wrestled to the ground by security. It turned out he had been on a six-day drug binge and said he was looking for his 15 minutes of fame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Stratosphere in Las Vegas was evacuated on Wednesday, in response to the discovery of a suspicious ticking backpack in the casino. In the wake of recent pressure cooker homemade bombs being found in lower Manhattan in New York, as well as in Elizabeth, New Jersey earlier this week, authorities were taking no chances. According […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":39948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Stratosphere Shuts Down When Ticking Backpack Found<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Las Vegas Stratosphere was closed temporarily on Wednesday following the discovery of a suspicious package in the form of a ticking backpack.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas Stratosphere Shuts Down When Ticking Backpack Found\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Las Vegas Stratosphere was closed temporarily on Wednesday following the discovery of a suspicious package in the form of a ticking backpack.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-22T15:57:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-22T17:05:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Stratosphere-Las-Vegas-evacuated-false-bomb-scare.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2535\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1901\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas Stratosphere Shuts Down When Ticking Backpack Found\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Stratosphere-Las-Vegas-evacuated-false-bomb-scare.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-22T15:57:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-22T17:05:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The Las Vegas Stratosphere was closed temporarily on Wednesday following the discovery of a suspicious package in the form of a ticking backpack.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-stratosphere-shut-down-when-ticking-backpack-found\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Stratosphere-Las-Vegas-evacuated-false-bomb-scare.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Stratosphere-Las-Vegas-evacuated-false-bomb-scare.jpg\",\"width\":2535,\"height\":1901,\"caption\":\"The Stratosphere on the North Las Vegas Strip was evacuated and sealed off when security found a ticking backpack on Wednesday. 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