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11-14-2007, 12:14 PM
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Hostage/Fake Bomb Situation Resolved at Showboat in AC
From the Atlantic City Press:
Gunman, A.C. police in Showboat standoff By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, 609-272-7215 Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 A bomb squad vehicle and dogs were in the area around the brown Harrah's bus at Showboat casino early today. Staff photo by Vernon OgrodnekATLANTIC CITY - An armed man held dozens of police at bay early this morning at the entrance to the Showboat Casino Hotel. Police had released no official information by press time. City Councilman George Tibbitt, who went to the scene, said he was told that a man with a bomb strapped to his body rode the Harrah's Express shuttle to the Showboat porte-cochere at about 10:45 p.m. Shortly before 1 a.m. today, Acting Mayor William "Speedy" Marsh said the man had a gun and there was a language barrier in trying to communicate with him. The mayor said he was told a robot had delivered a telephone to the shuttle bus to communicate with the man. Several popping sounds, similar to gunshots, were heard coming from the porte-cochere at about 11:15 p.m. Nichole Handwerk, of Allentown, Pa., said she was standing on the roof of the parking garage with her fiance, Sean Libovsky, when they heard a woman scream that a masked man on the shuttle was holding hostages. From the ledge of the roof, they saw a man let four or five people go and shoved an older man toward a second bus, Handwerk said. "He went from one bus to the other with a huge duffle bag," she said. They were watching the situation when police officers ordered them to leave the garage, Handwerk said. "As soon as I heard there was a bomb, I got out," she said. "It was like watching TV." A massive law-enforcement team responded to the scene, closed Pacific Avenue from Delaware to Maryland avenues and emptied the casino's bus area. The Atlantic City Bomb Squad, police in riot gear carrying rifles, K-9 officers, State Police troopers, FBI agents, the Atlantic City Fire Department and ambulances rushed to the area. There had been reports of a body found in the building, but a medical examiner's van was seen leaving the area with no body inside. "We're leaving it to the experts to do what they've got to do," Marsh said. Meanwhile, casino employees, hotel guests and others waited on the west side of Pacific Avenue. Many were in town to attend the New Jersey League of Municipalities conference and were not allowed back into their rooms. One man, talking to a friend on his cell phone, said, "It's like something out of a movie." To e-mail Elaine Rose at The Press: ERose@pressofac.com 
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