Nevada’s U.S. Senators say federal officials have released some of a $16.7 million grant to help survivors of the October 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen have issued a statement saying funds were released after they wrote to U.S. Attorney General William Barr on January 15 saying money promised for July through December 2019 had not been disbursed by the Department of Justice.
The Democratic senators say the delay hurt service providers’ ability to plan and provide aid to survivors and family members affected by the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
The Justice Department announced the grant in November 2018 under its Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program for crime victims. The money was intended for counseling and therapy, vocational rehabilitation and trauma recovery for concert attendees, staff and vendors, first responders, law enforcers, medical personnel and others.
Police and the FBI reported finding no clear motive for the gunman who used assault-style rifles to shoot from upper-floor windows of the Mandalay Bay Casino Resort hotel into an open-air music festival, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds. The shooter killed himself before police reached him.
