Disgruntled Worker Murders Las Vegas Casino Executive at Company Picnic
By Carl Samson
A “disgruntled” employee who shot a Las Vegas casino executive to death and injured another is currently at large.
The crime took place during a company picnic at a park near McCarran International Airport on Sunday evening.
Anthony Wrobel, 42, allegedly walked up to the picnic table and shot Mia Banks, 54, at close range.
Banks, vice president of casino operations at The Venetian, had been working at the company since it opened in 1999. She was rushed to a hospital but later succumbed to gunshot wounds to the head and chest.
Wrobel, on the other hand, had been a card dealer in the casino for 15 years. His car was found at the airport’s parking garage.
“At this point, what we believe is he is a disgruntled employee,” the Washington Post quoted Police Captain Robert Plummer as saying. “It’s a prime case of workplace violence where someone was not happy with his conditions and resulted in violence to deal with that issue that he was personally having.”
“Tony was the person, we were reflecting on it, he’s just like, what everyone was saying about the Parkland shooter, we all knew he was crazy,” a female employee who worked with Wrobel for years told Fox 5. “It wasn’t a matter of if he would, it was when. My first thought was like, ‘oh, my God, that is like, horrible,’ but I hate to say it, no one was surprised that he did it because he literally complained about management every single day.”
She added that he hated his apparent targets.
“The dealers, we used to make $30,000 more per year and he felt like with all of the decisions that management made, upper management, that that was the reason why we no longer made the money we made.”
Hector Rodriguez, executive director of table games, was critically injured during the shooting. Besides Banks, he is also a founding team member of the company.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., which runs The Venetian, said in a statement via 13 Actions News:
“Mia and Hector have been part of the fabric of The Venetian since our opening. They have demonstrated the very best of The Venetian and The Palazzo as leaders and as members of our Las Vegas community. Our hearts are with both families, and everyone who has been affected by this senseless act of violence.”
A $50,000 reward from the company awaits anyone with information for Wrobel’s arrest. He is believed to be armed, so anyone who spots him is discouraged from making contact and instead should call police, CBS 46 noted.
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