A Houston hotel guest’s weapons raised fears of another Las Vegas. Police say don’t worry.

A guest at a hotel that hosts one of Houston’s largest New Year’s parties caused a brief scare when he was arrested early Sunday, hours before the event, with several guns and ammunition in his room.

The discovery came as other U.S. cities stepped up security over fears of attacks — and just three months after a gunman killed dozens of concertgoers from a hotel room in Las Vegas. It prompted headlines like this from Fox News about a “small arsenal” of weapons at Houston’s downtown Hyatt Regency.

But by Sunday afternoon, Houston police said they believed the man had no intention to use his guns and had simply brought them up to his room for safekeeping.

He may still face charges for causing a drunken scene in the hotel lobby and assaulting an officer, police spokesman Victor Senties told The Washington Post.
An off-duty officer, moonlighting as a security guard, told the man to go back to his room. But he was soon back in the lobby, making another scene.

At some point, Senties said, Ziemba struggled with the officer to the point of assaulting him.

Finally, the spokesman said, the officer escorted Ziemba back to his room, and a manager told him to pack his bags.

“That’s when the officer sees ammunition in the room,” Senties said. “He calls for assistance.”

More officers arrived, and they found several guns inside the guest’s baggage. The Houston Chronicle described these as an AR-15 rifle, a shotgun, a handgun “and many rounds of ammunition.”