US promises nearly $17M for survivors of Las Vegas massacre

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Justice Department is allocating $16.7 million to help people affected by the Las Vegas Strip mass shooting that became the deadliest in the nation’s modern history.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Friday in Cincinnati that the money will defray costs of counseling, therapy, rehabilitation, trauma recovery and legal aid for thousands of people affected by the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre.

Fifty-eight people died and more than 850 were injured when a gunman opened fire from a high-rise hotel into an open-air country music concert crowd of 22,000 people.

The department says the money should help victims, family members, medical personnel, first responders, concert staff, vendors and witnesses.

It’ll supplement a $31.4 million compensation fund collected and spent by the Nevada Office for Victims of Crime.