Authorities are calling today’s shootout at the Las Vegas Federal Courthouse a “lone criminal act”. FBI Special Agent Joseph Dickey asserted that “This does not appear to be a terrorist incident” during the news conference this afternoon at 12:30pm.

Dickey also explained that a single gunman in black pants, a black shirt, and a black jacket, opened fire near the entrance to the Lloyd George federal building, injuring one deputy U.S. marshal and fatally wounding a security officer of the court.

The gunman was chased from the courthouse by seven security officers and was killed in a hail of return fire. His body was later found in some bushes across the street.

Nicholas Gramenos (“NickyFlips”), who was just leaving the court-house after jury duty as the scene broke out, took cell phone video or the event and had uploaded it to YouTube within minutes of it’s conclusion. His video can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7HiFbJyrzk

During the video, several gunshots are clearly audible as Nicholas narrates the event, finishing the video with “I think they got him.”

As of yet, no information has been released regarding the gunman’s identity or motive, though we expect to see some sort of press conference held later today. Authorities reported that they will review surveillance video from the area in an attempt to discover the exact cause of the event.

The injured deputy U.S. marshal has also not been named, though he is reported to be 48-years old, and now in stable condition following emergency surgery. The officer who was killed has been repoted to be 65 years old, though no additional details are available at this time.

The Federal Building had to be evacuated, with all employees moving to the Las Vegas Academy building, located nearby. City officials have also closed the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas as a precautionary measure.

The Lloyd George building has been hailed as one of the safest courthouses in the country, designed and developed in the early 2000s, built to meet much stricter regulations and security standards following the then-recent bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

However, most of the security precautions were designed to protect the building from bomb blasts, which did not help to prevent today’s gunman from entering and opening fire in the lobby.

The Lloyd George Couthouse contains 10 courtrooms, offices for the US Marshals, the U.S. Attorney, and Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign.

Further details as they are available.

A recently filed lawsuit charges the Hard Rock Hotel owner with shared liability for the 2007 drug overdose death of 23-year old Michelle Hatchel, the late girlfriend of then-Hotel Executive Ed Scheetz. The lawsuit claims that the Hotel shares liability for her death by “consenting to the executive’s promiscuous and drug-abusing lifestyle”, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun.

Michelle Hatchel had been living with Scheetz (the 42 year old married father) at his Vegas condo in the weeks leading up to her death- caused by an overdose of oxycontin and cocaine. Scheetz called her his “girlfriend” in his frantic 911 call, and had apparently been providing the ex-Columbine High School student with drugs, sex, and cash. He has never been criminally charged in connection to the 23 year old’s death, though he did settle a wrongful death suit with her father for a reported “substantial sum.”

The new lawsuit was filed on behalf of Hatchel’s mother, grandmother, brother, and aunt, and asks for $645 million in general and punitive damages from the Morgans Hotel Group (owner of Hard Rock Hotel) for subsidizing Scheetz’s partying by bankrolling his Vegas condo and private jet, and promoting a lifestyle of sexual promiscuity, hard-core partying, and illegal drug use.

Following Hatchel’s death, Scheetz moved quickly to prevent having to pony-up for damages in any wrongful death lawsuit, dropping divorce proceedings against his wife (so that she wouldn’t have to testify against him in any potential trial) and legally transferring their $8 million Connecticut residence to her.

Look for this lawsuit to get settled, quickly, since such strong allegations as these couldn’t have come at a worse time for a major player in the already-troubled Las Vega tourism scene. We expect a quick resolution and another “substantial” out of court settlement.

Check out the full text of the lawsuit in all it’s soap-opera-splendor.

Four supervisors from Planet Hollywood’s poker room have been accused of theft, as reported earlier today by the Las Vegas Sun. The four reportedly stole $2,201 in an alleged scheme involving faked “high hand” jackpot payoffs.

They were arrested following a months long investigation by Nevada State Gaming Control Board agents, after receiving a tip from a suspicious fellow employee. The investigation is continuing, said David Salas, a deputy enforcement officer for the board.

The supervisors are charged with felony crimes, including theft, forgery, and conspiracy to commit theft. They had been working in pairs on August 14th and 15th, faking “high hand” jackpots and keeping the winnings for themselves.

Salas reported that “These four were working in concert to generate false documents to embezzle their employer.”

On August 14th two of the suspects created three fake names, claiming that the made up individuals were involved in high hand jackpots. The other two suspects claimed a fourth made-up person also hit a “high hand” jackpot on August 15th.

The four suspects controlled all paperwork necessary for reporting and claiming the winnings of “high hand” jackpots, including all three layers of documentation required before winners could receive payment from Planet Hollywood for their special hands.

Planet Hollywood’s surveillance staff, however, noticed that the imaginary “high hand” jackpot winners had never played poker at the casino. They then found video footage of one suspect creating a false $487 jackpot in the Planet Hollywood poker room record log, with another suspect signing off on the forms as the supervisor in charge.