LAS VEGAS — Butler County Prison Warden Joe DeMore was enjoying the Planet Hollywood casino with a friend on Sunday night when he saw on a nearby television that an active shooter situation was occurring at the Mandalay Bay casino about a quarter to half-mile away.

DeMore and his friend were staying at the Paris hotel next door, so he and one friend attempted to cash out and head back to the safety of their hotel rooms.

“A security guard said it's probably not a good idea to leave,” DeMore said on Tuesday morning from his hotel. “The initial reports said there may be more than one shooter.”

Just then, a mob of terrified people suddenly burst in through the entrance that leads from the strip, through a mall and into the Planet Hollywood casino.

DeMore said the people were running, and many were screaming or crying. Chaos ensued in the casino, with people shouting and scattering in every direction.

DeMore and his friend ran to a Chinese restaurant chain inside Planet Hollywood, and were ushered into a stairwell in the restaurant along with 30 to 40 other people and employees.

“That was horrible,” DeMore said. “We were not sure what was going on, or if the gunman was upstairs.

“I was kind of assessing the scenario to see what I could do if a shooter kicked in that (stairwell) door.”

He said people were crying and hugging one another as a Planet Hollywood employee with an earpiece microphone tried to find out what was going on.

DeMore's background in law enforcement kicked in as he hid in the stairway with the terrified employees and tourists.

“I was trying to keep people calm,” he said.

Fearing a gunman would breach the door at the top of the stairs, DeMore and his friend moved to the bottom on the stairwell.

Read more about DeMore's harrowing experience in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.