Families of Las Vegas shooting victims could receive share of £647m settlement
3 October 2019, 21:17
Families of the 58 people who died and hundreds of others who were injured in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting could receive a share in a £647 million settlement.
In a major step to resolve hundreds of lawsuits in multiple states seeking compensation for physical and psychological injuries, MGM Resorts International has reached a settlement, lawyers have said.
The announcement was made just days after the second anniversary of the October 1 2017 massacre.
Victims say the casino giant failed to protect 22,000 people at a country music concert venue it owns, or to stop the gunman from spending several days amassing an arsenal of assault-style weapons and ammunition in his suite at the Mandalay Bay resort.
The amount of the settlement would depend on the number of plaintiffs who take part, a statement from Las Vegas law firm Eglet Adams said.
The attack at Las Vegas in October 2017 was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
A lone gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.
He killed 58 people and wounded 422, with the ensuing panic bringing the injury total to 851.
"Our goal has always been to resolve these matters so our community and the victims and their families can move forward in the healing process," said Jim Murren, chairman and chief executive of MGM Resorts.
An independent administrator will be appointed by a court to give out money from the settlement fund, lawyers and MGM have said.
It is expected that they will complete the work by late next year.
"Today's agreement marks a milestone in the recovery process for the victims of the horrifying events of 1 October," Robert Eglet, a lead plaintiffs' counsel, said in the statement.
"While nothing will be able to bring back the lives lost or undo the horrors so many suffered on that day, this settlement will provide fair compensation for thousands of victims and their families."
The Las Vegas shooting murderer, Stephen Paddock, killed himself as authorities closed in, and neither the police or the FBI ever determined a motive for his mass attack.