Shooter may have been upset over slot losses

John Porretto

Monday, Jan. 15, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

BILOXI, Miss. -- Police are trying to determine what caused a gambler down on his luck to shoot three people before killing himself at a busy Gulf Coast casino.

Sylvester McConnell, 48, of Mount Vernon, Ala., had been playing the $5 slot machines late Saturday night at Casino Magic Biloxi, said a casino employee who was about 15 feet away from McConnell when the shooting began.

The casino employee said he had seen McConnell in the casino before and that McConnell seemed upset after losing some money at the slot machines.

"I guess he lost his money and had enough of other people winning," said the casino worker, who did not want to be identified.

After shooting two women and one man, McConnell shot himself in the head. He was rushed to a Biloxi hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Two of the victims were listed in critical condition Sunday night at a Biloxi hospital. The other, a woman, was in good condition at a hospital in nearby Ocean Springs.

McConnell's neighbors in Mount Vernon, a small city just outside of Mobile with a population of about 1,800, said that he was employed by Alabama Power Co., married and had two daughters.

"I know his mother, his sisters and brothers. We were over there this morning praying with his wife and his children," neighbor Nathaniel Lucious told WKRG-TV in Mobile.

McConnell was sitting at a bank of slot machines when he pulled out a gun, shot a couple playing blackjack in the high-limits area, and then shot another woman at an adjacent blackjack table, the casino worker said.

McConnell fired a few shots, reloaded, and then began firing again before shooting himself, witnesses said.

About 12 hours after the shooting, the section of the casino where the incident took place was blocked with curtains and a security guard. Glasses and beer bottles were scattered on the floor in the closed area.

A few feet away, gamblers played slot machines and table games, including some who were present at the time of the shooting.

Hundreds of patrons and casino workers filled the two-floor casino Saturday night. The shooting occurred on the second floor at about 11 p.m. and sparked a mad scramble for the exits.

"It was mass panic," said a woman from Georgia, who did not want to be identified, as she and her husband checked out of the casino's hotel Sunday morning.

The high-stakes slot machine area is about 40 feet from the casino's main entrance.

"It was difficult to get out because you had to go by the shooting scene," said the Georgia woman.

It was the first shooting inside a casino on the Mississippi Coast since the industry opened here in 1992.

Capt. Steve Patterson of the Biloxi Police Department said two handguns were found at the scene, and AMR workers said another handgun was found on McConnell at the hospital.

Police said the victims were Chris Harmon, 27, of Escatawpa; Tanya Cooper, 28, of Vancleave; and Ut Pham, 44, from Pascagoula. Police said Cooper and Harmon were on a date.

Harmon was in critical condition Sunday afternoon at Biloxi Regional Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. He was breathing with the help of a ventilator, the supervisor said.

Cooper was also in critical condition at Biloxi Regional.

Cooper's mother told WLOX-TV in Biloxi that her daughter said she would never walk into a casino again.

Pham, who police said was shot in the buttocks, was in good condition at Ocean Springs Hospital.

Keith Crosby, the president of the Gulf Coast Gaming Association and general manager of the Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi, said security in and around casinos is as tight or tighter as any public place.

"There's a state statute that you can't have firearms in a casino, but how do you know?" Crosby said. "You can't frisk everyone at the door or search every purse. We're as susceptible to something like this as you are at a mall or convenience store."

Asked if an incident such as this would prompt casino executives to discuss ways to increase security, Crosby said he didn't think so.

"You already have one of the most security intensive public environments," Crosby said. "We have security presence and surveillance equipment everywhere. What else can you do?"

Casino Magic Biloxi, one of 12 casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, is owned by Pinnacle Entertainment, which is based in Glendale, Calif. Pinnacle is working on a merger deal with Harveys Casino Resorts in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Pinnacle also has casinos in Louisiana, Nevada, Indiana and Argentina.

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