Vegas Shooting has Federal Officials Looking into OKC Building Security

A shooting in Las Vegas has prompted federal officials to take a closer look at security inside Oklahoma City's federal buildings.

Wednesday, January 13th 2010, 9:26 pm

By: News 9


By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A shooting in Las Vegas has prompted federal officials to take a closer look at security inside Oklahoma City's federal buildings.

On January 4, a gunman was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals after he opened fire on security officers inside the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. A security guard was killed in the attack. One U.S. Marshal was wounded but survived.

U.S. Marshals are charged with protecting federal courthouses and judges. Federal buildings are protected by the Federal Protective Service, or FPS. In Las Vegas, the Federal Courthouse is located inside the Lloyd D. George Federal Building.

Federal authorities said the shootings are prompting a nationwide review of federal courthouse security, and Congress is already looking into security concerns surrounding FPS.

In a report obtained by NEWS 9, members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure stated the "FPS spends around a billion dollars to secure federal facilities, but the Committee remains alarmed that the federal government may not be getting significant value for its investment."

"After the attacks on the Pentagon and the Alfred P. Murrah Oklahoma City Federal Building, terrorists have left no doubt that federal facilities are symbols of the U.S. government and are their targets," said U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia.

Over the past years, lawmakers have looked at the funding of FPS, including inappropriate use of funds, and who's being hired. What they've learned is FPS not only suffers from inadequate staffing, but often contracts its security officers from outside sources.

"There's been some failures there," said U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma.

Congresswoman Fallin, who's on the committee, said the group has been working with FPS on solutions to the agency's problems, and she wants to see improvements as soon as possible.

"Congress is watching very closely to see if they're going to make those corrections and try to fix those things that clearly aren't working," Fallin said.

It was not long after the Oklahoma City bombing that the Department of Justice recommended significant upgrades for the Federal Protective Service. In fact, the Las Vegas Federal Building was the first built under the new guidelines.

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