By Nathan Layne and Tracy Rucinski
NEW YORK/CHICAGO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A year ago casino magnate Steve Wynn warned that Las Vegas was a "target city" and disclosed a raft of new security measures, including invisible metal detectors and specially trained guards, designed to prevent a large-scale attack.
Whether those measures would have prevented Sunday's rampage on the strip in which 59 people were killed is unknown. The gunman shot concertgoers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, a hotel complex owned by MGM Resorts International, a rival of Wynn Resorts Ltd.
But the shooting, which also injured more than 500 people, could spur casino operators to think more like Wynn, who had been dismissed as "obsessed" about security before Sunday's massacre, a rival casino executive said.
"This could be a turning point," the executive said, speaking on condition of anonymity because security measures are private. "Every management team is going to move this up to the top of the list."
A representative of MGM could not be reached for comment.
Hotels already have extensive security for gambling, including dogs that patrol the casinos to sniff for drugs and bombs, and significant security staff that constantly monitors the actions of people, including undercover security.
In an interview with Las Vegas' KTNV in 2016, Wynn Resorts Chief Executive Steve Wynn said, "Las Vegas is a target city. We have hardened the target at the Wynn.”
He said his company has metal detectors and devices at every entrance of its building for employees and guests that are nonvisible to the public as well as specially training guards.
"There are almost 40 of them at every opening of my building, plain clothes, armed, on the look-out, changing shift and being relieved every two hours so they don’t get bored,” he said.
"We have done extraordinary things to make sure that we protect our employees and our guests at the hotel," Wynn said.
His comments were confirmed on Monday by company spokesman Michael Weaver.
While other casino operators have contemplated heightened security measures, none have gone to the lengths of Wynn, the rival casino executive said.
A.G. Burnett, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said in a telephone interview on Monday that a task force was set up among regulators and law enforcement officials a few years ago to discuss security issues.
“We were always worried about something like this happening on the casino floor, but this was outside the casino,” Burnett said, adding, “We will continue our efforts in speaking with Las Vegas casinos on bolstering their security.”