By JEFF PATTERSON
News Channel 8

TAMPA - Luck was on the side of two brothers from Tampa when they visited Las Vegas last week.

Bob and Paul Ura say they were in Las Vegas for the wedding of a family member when they heard a noise from the top of a balcony inside the New York, New York casino.

“It sounded like fireworks at first with July 4th and stuff,” Bob Ura said. “It was real quick. Bang, bang, bang, bang.”

But the noise wasn’t fireworks. It was gunfire.

The Ura brothers say the scene inside the casino was instantly chaotic. People were scrambling under gaming tables and screaming.

As most people ran away from the shooter, the Ura brothers ran toward him. Both men are special agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and are trained to deal with dangerous situations.

But because they were off duty and out-of-state, both men were also unarmed and had only their badges to wave in the air.

When they arrived at the top of the stairs they say a National Guard reservist was already fighting with the suspect.

“They were fighting and as we got a little bit closer, he was able to get the gun and so our role really turned into turning it from a street fight to an arrest situation,” Bob Ura said.

As they ran to confront the gunman, the two lawmen knew they were leaving their wives and other family members behind to fend for themselves.

Paul Ura jokes that his wife is still a little angry at them for doing that, but on this one night, their gamble paid off: Las Vegas authorities say five people were injured in the shooting. None of them were seriously hurt.

When they arrived, Las Vegas police arrested 51-year-old Steven Zegrean and charged him with attempted murder.

Of the entire incident, Bob Ura simply says: “Sometimes it’s good to be lucky.”

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