OFF THE WIRE
11 a.m. update: Employees at John Ascuaga's Nugget have reopened Rosie's Cafe for business , but an area around Trader Dick's Restaurant and a sizable slot machine area remain closed as workers clean up the area where Friday night's shooting occured.
People in various motorcycle club colors are walking around the casino.
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10:10 a.m. update: People dropped to the dance floor and prayed as gunfire broke out Friday night at John Ascuaga's Nugget, apparently between rival motorcycle clubs, one eyewitness said.
Daniel Sharp of Stockton was at a dance area at the Nugget for Street Vibrations when a group of Vagos motorcycle club members came in. then he saw a single Hells Angels member come in, then saw more Hells Angels members come in.
The Vagos then came into the dancing area and took over all the tables and Sharp said he and his wife voluntarily gave up their table. They went to a near by area which was sunken and behind a wall. About five minutes later the shots rang out, he said.
"We had about 15 of us there," Sharp said. "People were praying. We had . . . grandmas and grandpas out in the middle of the floor. They were right in the middle of it. Having heart attacks and dropping. It was mayhem. It was unbelievable."
People had no time to think and just huddled together behind the wall, he said. He took pictures of others, including the staff, huddling behind the wall.
"Finally the SWAT team member came," Sharp said. "We asked if we could move and he says no, the best place for you is where you are now and we huddled back down."
He thinks they were there about 20 minutes to 30 minutes after the shooting.
"We were frightened," Sharp said. "We didn't know what to do, what to think."
On the one hand, he was unhappy to see hundreds of members of a motorcycle club take over a hotel-casino like that, Sharp said. But after the shooting, older members of the Vagos were asking bystanders if they were okay, he said.
"We've been here eight times and there was never a problem," Sharp said.
Would he come back next year? Sharp paused and then said he thought he would.
Meanwhile, the scene at the Nugget is returning to normal. The area around the shooting has been roped off and security guards are turning away people who approach. The rest of the casino is open.
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9:35 a.m. update: Sparks police say one person is dead from a shooting late Friday at John Ascuaga's Nugget.
Two others were injured, police said. They described the injures as non-life threatening.
Police plan a noon press conference to give an update to the news media on details of the shooting.
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7:30 a.m. update: Three people were shot late Friday at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, prompting a lock down of the casino.
All three were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center for treatment, but Sparks Police Department Lt. Pete Krall was unable to give an update on their condition.
Police are not yet saying who was involved in the fight.
"We are still very early on in the investigation," Krall said. "The investigation will include looking at affiliations to different motorcycle clubs, but we are not releasing the names of those clubs at this point."
At about 11:30 p.m. police got a report of a fight at the Nugget involving about 20 to 30 people, Krall said. A short time later they got a report there were shots fired and several people were shot near Trader Dick's Bar.
"To our knowledge at this point, there were three victims," Krall said. "They have all ended up at Renown medical center."
As to the chance there were others who were shot and left that police don't know about, Krall said that would be speculation and he could not answer that question.
The casino was closed and because of the number of people involved and the size of the casino, they requested help from other law enforcement agencies, Krall said. The Reno Police Department, the Washoe County Sheriff's Office and the Nevada Highway Patrol sent peace officers to assist, Krall said.
They are awaiting the results of the investigating before saying how many shots were fired, Krall said.
Renown Regional Medical Center requested some uniformed security officers so Reno police and the sheriff's office sent people, Krall said.
"It's a little bit unusual, but it's not completely atypical, because any time we have a shooting, we have officers following victims to the hospital," Krall said.
Because of the strain on manpower, the other agencies supplied the peace officers to guard the hospital, Krall said.
Three RPD patrol cars remained in front of the hosipital at 7 a.m. today.
Much of the Nugget has reopened this morning, the lieutenant said.
"We still have some portion of the crime scene that is being processed, but as that work continues more and more of the casino is being reopened," Krall said.
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1 :23 a.m.: Many of the men at the site in handcuffs wore clothing with the word "Vagos," an outlaw motorcycle club identified by the FBI and the ATF.
Witnesses are hesitating to provide identification and some do not want to enter the parking garage on the Northeast side of the building without a police escort.
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12:58 a.m. Saturday: John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks is currently in lockdown after a shooting was reported late Friday night.
One witness reported that two people were shot. Another reported she saw a person laying on the casino floor. Police have not confirmed injuries.
"There were guys walking around, then we heard five or six gunshots, then 10 or 12 more rang out," said a male witness who declined to give his name. "Then we hid under tables."
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12:37 a.m. Saturday: Unconfirmed reports are that a fight among Street Vibrations participants started on the dance floor at Trader Dick’s inside John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks.
The fight spilled out to the casino floor and shots were fired, according to multiple witnesses.
Guests hid under tables and behind counters before hotel security rushed them to the exits.
A witness, Claudia, who declined to give her last name, said, “All the biker guys just started fighting, and you hear like 20 gun shots. You look, and everyone has guns on their backs.”
People inside the casino were being ushered to their cars in the parking garage. Police from Reno, Sparks and Washoe County are on the scene.
There are no confirmed injuries.
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12:15 a.m. Saturday: The John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks was evacuated late Friday after shots were fired inside the casino.
Sparks and Reno police, as well as fire, ambulance and REMSA crews, are on the scene. There are no reports yet of injuries.
Guests at the hotel-casino are standing outside, on the roof of the parking garage to the east of the property, waiting to be let back in.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20110923/NEWS/110924001/Eyewitness-bullets-flew-Nugget-shooting-bystanders-prayed?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CLocal%20News%7Cp
