Steven Zegrean, 51, has opened fire with his 9mm handgun at the Las Vegas casino New York-New York, wounding four people. Zegrean, reportedly an out-of-work painter with family problemes, allegedly fired 16 shots from a balcony before being tackled by military men, law enforcement officers on holiday and the casino's security staff.

"We believe he had been walking up and down the strip for several days," said Capt. James Dillon, the chief of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's robbery homicide division. "We believe it was a random act with no relationship to the New York-New York and no relationship to the victims."

The collective effort from about 5 or 6 individuals ensured Zegrean was takled before he would kill someone. They managed to put him down while he was reloading his semiautomatic handgun. Apparently, Melody Zegrean, 43, a Las Vegas resident who identified herself as Steven Zegrean's cousin, told The Associated Press that he had been divorced for several years and had some sort of depression in relation to his marital problems.

Zegrean was booked on charges of attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon, burglary, conspiracy and discharging a firearm in an occupied structure, Capt. Dillon said.

"It was extremely fortunate that nobody was killed," he said.

The other gamblers were little distraught by the incident. "It happens everywhere," said a woman to the Associated Press.