MGM Resorts to pay up to $800M to settle suits over Las Vegas shooting attack

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Almost exactly two years after a mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip killed 58 people, MGM Resorts on Thursday announced it has agreed to pay as much as $800 million to settle lawsuits that arose out of the attack.

The shooting, the deadliest in modern U.S. history, also injured more than 800 people on the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard during a country music festival on Oct. 1, 2017. The gunman, Stephen Paddock, killed himself in a suite in the MGM-run Mandalay Bay resort and casino before he was confronted by police.

Hundreds of victims have sought compensation for physical and psychological damages stemming from the attack.

Thursday, MGM Resorts said it has agreed to pay between $735 million and $800 million.

"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," MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren said in a statement Thursday.

"This agreement with the plaintiffs' counsel is a major step, and one that we hoped for a long time would be possible. We have always believed that prolonged litigation around these matters is in no one's best interest."

Plaintiffs attorney Robert Eglet hailed the agreement as "a milestone" in the legal aftermath of the case.

"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," Eglet said. "MGM Resorts is a valued member of the Las Vegas community and this settlement represents good corporate citizenship on their part."

MGM Resorts said in a regulatory filing in May that it was willing to pay as much as $800 million to settle the lawsuits.