The Carnival City Casino Heist
10th September, 2007
The Carnival City casino was robbed by the armed gang of 12 to 15 men just after midnight on Saturday. They poured into the building firing AK-47s and pistols at casino staff, clients and police. Two police officers were seriously wounded and injured as a result of the attack.
Casino patron, James Lepoko, witnessed the robbery: “They ordered everyone to 'sleep', to get on the ground”.
So they all did, including him, the other patrons and staff members, while the shopkeepers managed to lock the doors trying to get to the back rooms for the safety. The gang members were firing into the ceiling, which created even greater chaos from the incredible amount of shooting noise and falling objects.
The men used multiple entrances to storm into the casino’s main gambling hall. The employee of the casino, the important witness, who chose to stay anonymous said: "The gang came from everywhere, from every entrance. If I said 50 shots had been fired that wouldn't be enough." He also added that the casino has prohibited employees from speaking to the press under any circumstances.
Gauteng SAPS communication officer, Superintendent Eugene Opperman reported that a patron had to suffer a shot in a leg, whilst a female casino employee was seriously injured, as one of the gunmen smacked her in the face with his AK-47.
As reported by Carnival City general manager Riaan van Rooyen, It took 10 minutes for the Booksburg police to arrive on the crime scene after they were called by the surveillance officers, that were nearby and getting suspicious on the outside.
The further gunfight has resulted in two officers being seriously injured, who were reported to being in a stable condition on Sunday. Their location was withheld for security and safety reasons of the injured witnesses.
Everybody was sequenced up to the early hours of 4am, while the police and the casino management were trying to work out the details, of what was described by witnesses as a very carefully thought through plan.
Nevertheless, the casino recovery, i.e. patching the bullet holes, changing glass and mirrors, was extremely fast and efficient; as by the midday next day it was fully operating and with no signs of a the horrible events of the night.
The question that is still under a lot of scrutiny and mystery is the curious ability of the gang to breech outside security with what seemed to be no effort at all. There are also still no exact information revealed about the sum stolen. Nevertheless, two vehicles that were used in a heist were found somewhere already.
So it seems that despite the fact that the times when conducting heists was considered romantic and adventurous have passed, and the security has now reached extremely technologically advanced levels, there is still a huge risk that in-land casinos have to take because of the tasty sums that are always there tempting the evil minds. If these cases make you concerned than maybe it’s time to make a choice to play it safe in various online casinos available. At the end of the day, the drinks are free and the chances of being bashed in the head with AK-47 fall considerably.
