Belfast Telegraph

Las Vegas hotel sues gunman’s victims over liability

- BY EMILY SHUGERMAN

THE hotel group that rented Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock a room during his deadly rampage last autumn has decided to sue more than 1,000 of his victims in an attempt to avoid liability.

MGM Resorts Internatio­n- al filed a case this week against victims of the 2017 mass shooting — the deadliest in US history. The lawsuit argues MGM cannot be held responsibl­e for deaths, injuries, or other damages stemming from the shooting, and says all claims against the company “must be dismissed”, according to local reports.

The case does not seek compensati­on from victims, but seeks to stop future lawsuits against the company going ahead, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported. “Years of drawn out litigation and hearings are not in the best interest of victims,” MGM spokeswoma­n Debra DeShong said.

MGM owns the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where Mr Paddock stayed during the shooting, as well as the Route 91 Harvest Festival, where the shooting occurred.

Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 800 injured when Paddock opened fire from his 32nd-floor suite last October .

More than 450 victims sued MGM last November, alleging negligence on the hotel’s part.

MGM claims it cannot be held liable as it employed a security contractor that had been certified by the Department of Homeland Security for “protecting against and responding to acts of mass injury and destructio­n”.

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