Indigo Sky Casino and Resort was evacuated twice on Saturday — once in the morning and much longer in the evening — after bomb threats were made to the Oklahoma gaming complex, according to a local news report. A second, nearby casino was also evacuated. No bombs or explosives were found in either location.
In the longer evacuation, guests were told to leave the Indigo Sky Casino complex at about 7 pm, and could not return to the venue for 13 hours. For several hours they were forced to leave the grounds outside of the casino while a search took place. They were kept away from the neighboring hotel for six hours.
The second bomb threat was contained in a note discovered in a casino restroom at about 6:30 pm Saturday.
The note seemed to be pretty threatening and specific, stating there was indeed a bomb located on the property somewhere, though it did not say where that location was,” Melanie Heskett, general manager of Indigo Sky Casino and Resort, revealed to KSN, a local TV station.
That prompted the Wyandotte, Okla. casino to clear out guests and employees from the gaming property and neighboring hotel.
The hotel reopened at about 1 am Sunday. The casino was to have reopened at about 8 am Sunday.
The Eastern Shawnee Tribal Police Department, Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) Bomb Squad, Tulsa Police Department, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs took part in the search.
Specially trained bomb sniffing dogs from the TPD and OHP searched the entire complex for several hours, KSN said. No arrests were made.
“We have a lot of people on our floors and a lot of staff on a Saturday night,” Heskett said. “We alerted guests and team members alike. All of them were great.”
Obviously, there was some that were disgruntled. But we expect that and we hope that they continue to trust us with their safety and their entertainment needs.”
Forced to Leave
One casino visitor, Hugh Smith, of Springdale, Ark., told KSN that at about 7 pm someone came into the casino’s bar and grill. Restaurant guests were ordered to leave.
We left our food and everything,” Smith recalled. “The workers were yelling at people to run and there was no time to wait on anyone or cash out.”
Tanya Stone, of Anderson, Okla., also recounted to KSN how she was eating dinner when they were ordered to leave.
“Everyone got up and headed out,” Stone said. About an hour later, security guards went outside. Assembled guests were told to leave the parking lot.
An hour and a half later, security came out and told everyone to go to the grass and get far away from the building,” Stone said. Four hours after that, security guards told guests to leave the property, she said. “They offered to shuttle people to Riverbend [Casino] for the night.”
Several of the evacuees did not have medications, car keys, or money with them, Stone said. Late Saturday night, guests were told they could return to the Indigo Sky Casino’s hotel.
Starting on Sunday morning, patrons could return to collect any personal items, casino chips, winnings and slot machine tickets.
Earlier Evacuation
Twelve hours earlier on Saturday, at about 6:30 am, an initial evacuation took place at Indigo Sky Casino after a “possible threat,” KSN said, quoting officials. Two hours later, employees and patrons were allowed back into the casino. Details on that threat were not immediately available.
In addition, on Saturday evening the Outpost Casino, also located in Wyandotte, Okla., was also evacuated and searched. The move was precautionary, KSN added.
Indigo Sky Casino and Resort and Outpost Casino are both owned and operated by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. The casinos are about 91 miles northeast of Tulsa, Okla.
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