Families of the 58 dead, as well as survivors who were paralyzed or received brain damage, will receive $275k apiece.
A victims fund announced it would pay $275,000 apiece to the families of each of the 58 people killed in the Mandalay Bay shooting, the dealiest mass shooting in modern US history. The victims started as a GoFundMe effort in the wake of the October 1 shooting.
Eventually, the GoFundMe page generated $31.5 million in victims’ funds. That is enough to pay the 58 families in Stephen Paddock’s mass shooting, as well as those who were either paralyzed or suffered permanent braind damage in the attack.
The 10 people who survived, but were either paralyzed or received brain damage, will receive the maximum $275,000 apiece. The non-profit organization which started the GoFundMe page posted a chart showing how much the other 532 victims would be paid.
Roughly $10 million will go to the 147 people who were hospitalized, but whose wounds were not as severe as the 10 aforementioned survivors.
100% Paid to Shooting Victims
Howard Stutz, a spokesman for the fundraisers, said his organization expects to pay 100% of what it raised to victims of the Mandalay Bay shooting. The fund received donations from over 90,000 people, growing into a $31 million contribution.
About 40% of the funds came from the Southern Nevada gambling, tourism, and entertainment industries.
Like the contributions by Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts to the Houston and Macau areas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Typhoon Hato in August 2017, much of that money came from Las Vegas Strip casinos.
Family Statement on $275k Payment
One of the victims’ family members gave a statement on the payments. Stacee Etcheber was one of the 58 people who died when Stephen Paddock shot from a high-rise casino into a country music festival full of 22,000 people, said money was no substitute for a loved one, but it would help families distressed from the cost of flying to Las Vegas and burying a loved one — most of whom were so young they had not planned for funerary expenses.
Al Etcheber, brother-in-law of Stacee Etcheber, said of the GoFundMe payments, “In no way can it replace someone’s life. Still, it is a real nice way to help families who lost someone they loved.”
Stacee Etcheber was the wife of San Francisco Police Officer Vincent Etcheber, who is Al’s brother. The 50-year old mother of two was a hairdresser in Novato, California. Mrs. Etcheber was one of 851 victims of the shooting, according to Las Vegas police.
Town Hall Meetings to Determine Distribution
The Mandalay Bay shooting fund held two town hall meetings to hear from the public on what to do with the donations. The fund’s organizers said they also read through 1,600 different emails sent by donors and other interested citizens before deciding how to allocate funds.
The group also consulted with Kenneth Feinberg and the National Center for Victims of Crime in order to determine how to parcel out the GoFundMe donations. Eventually, it was determined that the bulk of the money should go to the families of the deceased, along with those whose health was radically and permanently impacted by the shooting.
Survivors Receive Donations, Too
Some of the victims who survived the Mandalay Bay attack might need the funds more than the surviving families. Few expenses run through family savings like medical expenses, so prolonged stays in intensive care units have cost Las Vegas shooting victims millions of dollars.
Anyone shot by Stephen Paddock likely will face a lifetime of emotional and physical pain, but those who were paralyzed or who received permanent brain damage had their lives impacted in far greater magnitude. In those cases, victims receiving a few hundred thousand dollars in donations could be a boon to those with the worst medical issues.
Even a short stay in a hospital could impact the finances of some victims, so the payment of $50,000 to $100,000 to the hundreds of victims could be a boon to many of those targeted in the shooting, or who were injured in the panic that ensued. A quick calculation of the $10 million to be dispersed to the 500+ victims who do not deal with paralysis or brain damage indicates they might receive $100k or more, which should help with their medical expenses.
Whatever the amount paid to the victims, the GoFundMe page should help ease families’ post-trauma issues. While money will never replace a loved one, if it can help ease the stress and worries that come with medical, travel, and funerary expenses, the donations can at least help eliminate one additional burden on families of victims and survivors alike.
