The owners of the Las Vegas hotel where gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on hundreds of people in America's deadliest mass shooting is suing the victims.
MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay casino, has taken more than 1,000 shooting victims to federal courts, saying claims against the hotel should be dismissed.
“Plaintiffs have no liability of any kind to defendants,” court documents show the complaint argues, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
MGG argues it cannot be held liable for any casualties in the attack, which occurred in October last year.
The mass shooting left 58 people dead and up to 800 injured after 64-year-old Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay at the Route 91 Harvest country music concert.
Police stormed his room a short time later and found Paddock had already killed himself. His motives remain a mystery.
Lawsuits have been filed against both MGM and the concert’s promoter, accusing the companies of not having enough security or properly trained staff to deal with such an incident.
Las Vegas lawyer Robert Eglet, who is representing several of the victims, said the counterclaim was an attempt to get the cases heard in federal court, instead of state court, believing a better outcome was likely.
But MGM argues a security company working the venue is in fact responsible.
“The Federal Court is an appropriate venue for these cases and provides those affected with the opportunity for a timely resolution. Years of drawn-out litigation and hearings are not in the best interest of victims, the community and those still healing,” an MGM spokesperson said.
MGM Resorts International is not seeking money but is attempting to block claimants from being able to file lawsuits against it for "deaths, injuries, and emotional distress resulting from Paddock's attack", the New York Post reports.
