Pittsburgh Public Safety officials say a threat made at Rivers Casino on Friday is being investigated as a swatting incident.
Officers responded to a call at about 8 p.m. at the North Shore entertainment business for a man saying he was going to begin shooting at the casino.
A city spokesperson said Pittsburgh police and state troopers cleared the scene and nothing was found.
Firefighters and EMS were also prepared for a possible emergency. No evacuation was necessary.
News partner WTAE spoke with Ethan Harris, a casino patron visiting from New Hampshire. He estimated there were hundreds of people inside.
“When I walked in, the cop cars showed up at the same time. They said don’t go into the parking garage,” Harris said. “Then everything was kind of hush-hush. About 15 minutes go by, then the cops said everything’s OK, you can go inside; there’s not really anything going on right now.”
Harris also told reporters, ”I feel like I’m secure. I don’t really feel like there’s too much of a threat going on because I think if there was a threat, they would evacuate the casino, so they obviously have it handled.”
According to Homeland Security’s website, swatting is “a malicious act that can involve placing false emergency calls to emergency responders, often reporting a (false) severe, ongoing crisis at a specific location.”
Federal officials said the goal is to instigate a large law enforcement response, creating chaos and potentially result in violence.
No information about possible suspects was immediately available.