Las Vegas SWAT team captures man who held hostage in Caesars Palace hotel room after tense standoff
Las Vegas police have arrested a man who was barricaded inside a Caesars Palace hotel room with a female hostage, ending a standoff that spanned most of the day.
“SWAT made entry into the hotel room and has taken the subject into custody,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on Tuesday in a statement on Twitter. “The female who was also in the room is safe and with officers.”
#BREAKING 2:46 p.m.: SWAT made entry into the hotel room and has taken the subject into custody. The female who was also in the room is safe and with officers. There will be a large police presence with vehicles as this investigation continues and units disperse.
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) July 11, 2023
Earlier in the day, the man, who claimed he was armed, dragged a woman “by force” into his room, according to the LVMPD.
The assailant was seen throwing large pieces of furniture out of a broken window in his 21st-floor room.
Police have not announced the identity of those involved in the standoff.
Officers told the Las Vegas Review Journal there was no evidence of guns inside the hotel room.
Authorities were alerted to what they said was a domestic disturbance around 9.15am on Tuesday, according to police.
North Carolina real estate broker Alyssa Hellman told The Independent she was at the Caesars Palace pool with her wife when she heard a loud bang at about 1.30pm.
She said she looked up to see that a window had been broken and a man inside started throwing furniture out onto the concourse.
“We heard a bang and then one of the windows was broken open, and the guy was throwing things out. Lamps, a TV and a minibar. He’s drawn the curtains now,” Ms Hellman said at the time.
Ms Hellman said guests were evacuated from the pool area, but staff did not explain what was going on.
The couple had retreated to a safe distance and said everyone around them seemed “pretty calm and content”.
“We’re tucked back hidden away, closer to the Bellagio,” she said.
Videos from bystanders showed hotel guests running for safety as debris rained down from above.
“When we saw the window shatter it was kind of a surreal feeling, it got pretty scary,” Beverly Blackwell, 56, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, told The Associated Press. “We were told to gather our stuff and rush out the back.”
Bevan Hurley contributed reporting to this article.
