Casino giant settles Vegas shooting lawsuits for up to $800m

Lawyers announce creation of third-largest settlement fund in US history

Almost two years to the day since America's worst mass shooting a settlement of up to $800 million dollars was announced for victims. AFP

Two years after a shooter opened fire on country music fans from a Las Vegas hotel, MGM Resorts International reached a settlement of up to $800 million (Dh2.9 billion) to families of the 58 people who died and hundreds wounded.

It will resolve hundreds of lawsuits in several states seeking compensation for physical and psychological injuries from the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

The announcement came two days after the second anniversary of the massacre on October 1, 2017.

Victims say the casino giant failed to protect 22,000 people at a venue it owns, or stop the shooter collecting assault-style weapons and ammunition over days in Mandalay Bay resort suite.

Dr Heather Melton, an orthopaedic surgeon whose husband, Sonny, died shielding her from the gunfire, said she had mixed feelings about the settlement.

“There’s some good that comes from it," Dr Melton said. "It will help give families closure and alleviates their ongoing medical costs.

“But there’s no amount of money I would take to not get my husband back.”

The settlement creates the third-largest victims compensation fund in US history, an attack and disaster claims administrator said.

Kenneth Feinberg, who was not involved in the Las Vegas deal, said he oversaw $7.1bn in victim compensation after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and $6.5bn after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The amount of the shooting settlement depends on the number of plaintiffs, said the Las Vegas law firm Eglet Adams, which represents nearly 2,500 victims.

“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.

Lawyers also will get some of the money but would not say how much.

An independent administrator will be appointed by a court to assign money from the settlement fund.

Lawyers and MGM expect to complete the work by late next year.

MGM’s insurers will put a minimum of $735m into the settlement fund.

Depending on the number of victims who sue, the company will contribute up to $800m more, victims’ lawyers say.

“Today’s agreement marks a milestone in the recovery process for the victims of the horrifying events of the first of October,” said Robert Eglet, a leading plaintiffs’ counsel.

“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.”

That day Stephen Paddock, 64, a retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player, fired out of the windows of his hotel room into the crowd.

Paddock killed himself as authorities closed in and they found 23 assault-style weapons in his room, many equipped with bump stocks that allow firearms to fire like machineguns.

Police and the FBI found that he meticulously planned the attack, which they theorise could have been for notoriety, although no clear motive was determined.

As legal claims piled up, MGM drew outrage when it filed lawsuits last year against more than 1,900 victims to try to avoid liability.

The company said it did not owe anything to survivors or families of slain victims, under a federal law enacted after 9/11.