Apparent Bomb Threat Evacuates River Spirit Casino

Dee Duren, NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Patrons waited outside the River Spirit Casino for about an hour and a half Friday night as employees grappled with an apparent bomb threat.

The casino at 83rd and Riverside was evacuated just before 11 p.m. Several witnesses said that an announcement came over the loud speaker telling them to leave the building.

"We were sitting there playing and having a wonderful time and over the intercom system we heard 'evacuate the building,'" said casino patron Natalie Starr.

"We asked 'what's going on,' and we heard possible bomb threat."

Many people left the property during the scare, but many more waited outside because their cars were in the valet parking garage. Staff and visitors were not able to retrieve their vehicles until the all clear signal.

"A lot of people already left, but there are a lot of die hards who are going to go back in, they say," said Leonard Patterson, a patron whose car was in the garage.

River Spirit Casino employees declined to comment about the incident to the News On 6.

The casino reopened at 12:45 a.m.