The massacre that took place in Las Vegas during the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival earlier this month was absolutely devastating. As victims of the shooting search for answers in the wake of the incident, one question that many of them have is looking at who is responsible for allowing the massacre on that level to take place. So who and why are people suing since the shooter himself, Stephen Paddock is dead?

There are various parties that are now being named as defendants partially responsible for the massacre. Some of these defendants include:

• Mandalay Bay Hotel: Was the hotel negligent in their failure to notice the suspicious activity around Stephen Paddock’s stay leading up the to massacre? During the days before Paddock punched out the windows of his hotel room, he took multiple trips up to his room to bring what ultimately amounted to 23 guns in ten suitcases– some are now arguing that this should have been something the hotel was aware of. The second major argument against the hotel is what level of duty they owed to concertgoers. This argument is complicated by the fact that while hotel owe duties to guests and visitors, the concert was not on their premises.
• Route 91 Harvest Music Festival Concert Promoters: Suits are also being filed against the concert promoters resting on arguments around breaching their security duties to the layout of the exits.
• Gun Manufacturers: In the wake of any mass shooting, there are always discussions around whether the gun manufactures can be held responsible and the answer to this valid question is a very complicated one. Usually these lawsuits do not end in gun manufacturers being held responsible and part of this is because of a bill passed by Congress in 2005- The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.
• Estate of Stephen Paddock: Victims can and often do sue the estate of the individual responsible for their injuries. A recent example of this are the handful of wrongful death lawsuits against deceased NFL player Aaron Hernandez. While he made some major financial transactions leading up to the shooting, Paddock did have some assets that shooting victims are already seeking.

Filing personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits following a tragedy like this can provide much more than money. Many also seek justice in making certain parties take responsibility for the role they may have played in the tragedy and of course anytime there is publicity and big judgement against large corporations and companies, there is the hope that positive adjustments will be made for future events.