The U.S. government is allocating nearly $17 million to assist victims of the October 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Justice Department grant, totaling $16.7 million, will help cover the costs of counseling, therapy, rehabilitation, trauma recovery and legal aid for thousands of people affected by the attack, which left 58 dead and more than 850 wounded or injured.
The Justice Department said the grant will supplement and replenish a compensation fund managed by the Nevada Office for Victims of Crime. The fund has established procedures for disbursing funds to more than 530 people which to date total $3.2 million. Funds also are earmarked for a group called the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center for services to survivors, family members and victims.
The shooting, the worst in U.S. history, was perpetrated the evening of October 1, 2017, by a lone gunman who opened fire on an outdoor concert from a suite atop Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino which he’d stocked with automatic and semi-automatic rifles. The gunman, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nev., killed himself as police closed in and whatever motives he had died with him. The attack is still under investigation.
