MGM Resorts denies liability for Las Vegas shooting, sues victims to block lawsuits
US - The owner of the Mandalay Bay hotel says it bears no liability in last year’s Las Vegas concert massacre and is asking the courts to extend it federal protections that shield companies who provide anti-terrorism products and services to civilians.
MGM Resorts International, facing a barrage of lawsuits over the shooting, responded Friday by naming more than 1,000 of the shooting victims as defendants in two lawsuits of its own. The entertainment giant is not seeking monetary damages but, citing a federal law, asks the courts to protect it from legal actions filed by the victims.
In a statement to CNN, MGM Resorts called the shooting “the despicable act of one evil individual” and said its lawsuits, filed Friday in US District Courts for Nevada and Central California, are intended to benefit the victims and help them heal. “The Federal Court is an appropriate venue for these cases and provides those affected with the opportunity for a timely resolution”, said Debra DeShong, spokeswoman for MGM Resorts. “Years of drawn-out litigation and hearings are not in the best interest of victims, the community and those still healing.”
Another MGM spokesman declined to answer further questions.
The lawsuit is “utterly reprehensible”, Robert Eglet, a Las Vegas attorney representing about 1,000 victims, told CNN. The October 1 shooting, which left 58 dead, hundreds injured and many more traumatized, began when a heavily armed gunman smashed windows in his Mandalay Bay suite on the 32nd floor and rained bullets down on thousands of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival across the street. Police said the gunman, Stephen Paddock, then fatally shot himself.
MGM Resorts International is the parent company of the corporation that owns the Mandalay Bay and the Las Vegas Village, site of the festival.
MGM hired a vendor, Contemporary Services Corp., to provide security for the event. By hiring CSC, whose services the Department of Homeland Security has approved “for protecting against and responding to acts of mass injury and destruction”, MGM is claiming it is absolved from responsibility in the shooting.
(CNN)