Las Vegas Concert Shooting Victims, Families to Receive Fund Payout
Victims and victims’ family members from last fall’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas are set to receive a payout from the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund charity totaling $31.4 million.
The LVVF, which was formed in the wake of the shooting that claimed the lives of 58 people and injured 851 — the deadliest mass shooting to take place on U.S. soil in modern history — announced in a press release that the payments would begin to be rolled out starting Monday, March 5th. A maximum payout of $275,000 will be distributed to the family of each attendee who was killed in the October 1st shooting, with an additional 10 victims who suffered permanent disabilities or brain damage also receiving the maximum payout.
A total of 532 claimants have been recognized for payment from the LVVF committee. The funds raised came through a variety of channels and more than 90,000 donors. Among them was a $5.2 million donation from the Vegas Strong Fund (consisting of a consortium from Southern Nevada gaming, tourism and entertainment industry), $4 million from MGM Resorts, and $66,000 from the students, faculty and staff of Green Valley High School outside Las Vegas, who raised funds through T-shirt sales.
Vegas Strong, a benefit concert held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 1st, raised $700,000. Performers included musicians like the Killers, Blue Man Group, Boyz II Men and Imagine Dragons, as well as comedians Jay Leno and Penn & Teller, and Cirque du Soleil.
The LVVF follows similar organizations set up in the aftermath of other mass shootings to take place in recent years, like the OneOrlando Fund for victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting and the One Boston Fund following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Total claimants for those two fundraisers were 259 and 232, respectively.
On the the final day of the Route 91 Harvest festival, a gunman armed with assault weapons opened fire on the crowd from his room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino while that night’s headliner Jason Aldean was performing onstage. In February, Mandalay Bay renumbered the floor from which the shooter attacked, changing floors 31 through 34 to 56 through 59.