Early Thursday morning, authorities evacuated the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma after a bomb threat was reportedly received by staff there.
According to local news agencies, dispatchers said at around 1am on Thursday, the Osage County Sheriff’s Office called for Tusla Police assistance, after the casino at 911 East 36 Street North reportedly received a call from someone claiming to have planted a bomb in the casino.
While investigating the threat, tribal police evacuated the Tulsa casino. Officers arrived and say they searched for a possible bomb but reportedly found nothing suspicious. Responders including Tula firefighters, the Tulsa police bomb squad, and Osage County deputies were reportedly on the scene for well over an hour before customers and employees were allowed to go back into the building.
Investigators reportedly figured out that the bomb threat was made by a man using a disconnected cell phone.
Authorities had the scene cleared and the casino reopened by 4am, according to reports.
Tulsa firefighters, Osage County deputies and the Tulsa police bomb squad responded to search the building, located just inside Osage County near the Tisdale Expressway.
Located near the Tisdale Expressway, just inside Osage County, the Osage Casino opened for business in the Summer of 2005 and is one of seven Osage Casinos owned and operated by the Osage Nation. The other six are located in the Oklahoma cities of Pawhuska, Bartlesville, Ponca City, Hominy, Skiatook, and Sand Springs.
After posting record numbers in 2015, the Osage Nation broke ground on its Tulsa casino expansion project in November 2016. The expansion of the decade-old, 47,000 square foot Osage Casino is taking place in four phases and is expected to exceed $500 million at build-out. Phase one of the expansion will have a $150 million price tag and include a six-story hotel with 126 rooms and six suites, a full retail and entertainment complex, and a new 88,000 square feet casino floor, with additional slots, table games, and a new poker room.
Upon completion, the tribe hopes to include a golf course and a full retail and entertainment complex. Convention space, including a ballroom and flexible space; a sports bar and grill, parking garage, and a new casino bar are included among additional or eventual changes that would be included.