Las Vegas to Complete Mass Shooting Memorial by 10th Anniversary
Las Vegas authorities announced on Monday that a lasting tribute to the victims and survivors of the deadliest mass shooting in contemporary US history will be finished by the tenth anniversary of the Oct. 1, 2017 attack.
The declaration was issued just a day prior to the seventh anniversary of the October 1 shooting, where solitary shooter Stephen Paddock killed 58 individuals from his Mandalay Bay hotel room while they participated in the Route 91 Harvest music festival below. In the following years, two additional individuals succumbed to their gunshot injuries.
The Vegas Strong Fund nonprofit states that construction on the memorial will commence within six months. It will be constructed at the northeastern edge of the previous concert venue, previously referred to as Las Vegas Village.
The memorial design approved last September will feature 58 large candle structures, each showcasing the name and image of a murder victim. It will also include 22K lights, corresponding to each concertgoer present that evening. A pathway will guide guests through a garden, and alongside a 58-foot glass tower, leading to the candles.
Officials stated that the construction is projected to cost several tens of millions of dollars. Clark County, home to Las Vegas, has contributed $1 million.
Inexpressible Grief
For over 10 minutes starting at 10:05 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2017, Paddock shot over 1,000 rounds into the audience at the Route 91 Harvest music festival from Room 32-135 of Mandalay Bay. The assault concluded when Paddock, 64, took his own life with a revolver.
The assault was carefully orchestrated. Although the motive of the mass murderer is deemed unknown by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI published a large collection of documents last year indicating that Paddock, a professional gambler, was frustrated with the diminished perks and benefits that several casinos offered to high rollers such as himself.
In 2020, MGM, the owner of Mandalay Bay as well, resolved a class-action suit with 4,000 survivors and families of victims for $800 million.
Two years later, the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota acquired 13 of the 15 acres of the original Las Vegas Village festival site, which has remained dormant since the incident, for an estimated $90M.
