Mandalay Bay hotel group will never again rent Stephen Paddock’s room; future of massacre site unclear

MGM also owns the festival grounds where concertgoers were targets of the deadliest shooting in U.S. history

The company that owns the hotel where Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers in the deadliest mass shooting in United States history will not rent out the room in the future.

MGM Resorts International, which operates the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, released a statement Thursday announcing they would not rent the 32nd floor room where Paddock brought an arsenal of weapons to commit a deadly massacre that killed 58 people and injured hundreds more.

“This was a terrible tragedy perpetrated by an evil man. We have no intention of renting that room,” MGM Resorts said in a statement to the Las Vegas Sun.

The Las Vegas Sun also reports that MGM owns the property across the street from Mandalay Bay where the Route 91 Harvest Festival was held, through its subsidiary company MGM Resorts Festival Grounds LLC.. On October 1, a crowd of thousands was watching Jason Aldean perform when Paddock opened fire from a broken window in his hotel room. Paddock fired at the crowd for approximately 11 minutes and took his own life before authorities breached the room.

It is unclear what MGM Resorts will do with the 14.48-ace festival grounds in the wake of the shooting massacre.

The statement about the hotel room comes as multiple lawsuits continue to be filed against MGM Resorts International. As CrimeOnline previously reported, the family of shooting victim Andrea Castilla has filed a lawsuit against the hotel operator and Stephen Paddock’s estate. Castilla was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival as part of a birthday trip to Vegas, where her boyfriend was planning to propose. She was killed when a bullet hit her in the head as she watched the show with her sister.

The New York Daily News reports that Rachel Sheppard, 21, is suing MGM Resorts International after she was injured in the shooting. She has obtained a court order demanding that the hotel company preserve all evidence connected to the deadly massacre.

 

[Feature image: Associated Press]