This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Two years after a gunman rained gunfire on country music fans from a high-rise Las Vegas hotel, MGM Resorts International reached a settlement that could pay up to $800m to families of the 58 people who died and hundreds of others who were injured, attorneys announced on Thursday.

The settlement will resolve hundreds of lawsuits in multiple states that seek compensation for a range of physical and psychological injuries from the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. The announcement came two days after the anniversary of the 1 October 2017, massacre.

Victims say the casino giant failed to protect 22,000 people at a concert venue it owns or stop the shooter from spending several days amassing an arsenal of assault-style weapons and ammunition in his suite at the Mandalay Bay resort.

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Dr Heather Melton, an orthopedic surgeon whose husband, Sonny, died shielding her from the gunfire, said she had mixed feelings about the settlement.

“There’s some good that comes from it. It will help give families closure and alleviates their ongoing medical costs,” she said. “But there’s no amount of money I would take to not get my husband back.”

The amount of the settlement depends on the number of plaintiffs who take part, according to attorneys who represent thousands of people with claims against MGM.

“Our goal has always been to resolve these matters so our community and the victims and their families can move forward in the healing process,” said Jim Murren, the chairman and chief executive of MGM Resorts.

An independent administrator will be appointed by a court to allocate money from the settlement fund, attorneys and MGM said. James Frantz, a San Diego attorney who represents 199 victims, said he expected a formula to be worked out based on the severity of people’s injuries.

They expect to wrap up the work by late next year, a timeline that Feinberg called “very realistic”. Attorneys will get some of the money, but they wouldn’t say how much.

Robert Eglet, a lead plaintiffs’ attorney, said a court battle could have taken a decade or more and that the deal would “provide the greatest good” for those still reeling from the massacre.

“While nothing will be able to bring back the lives lost or undo the horror so many suffered on that day, this settlement will provide fair compensation for thousands of victims and their families,” he told reporters in Las Vegas.

Eglet said there are a few other lawsuits out there but the “short answer” is that everything is settled. Other lawsuits name the gunman’s estate, gun manufacturers, event promoters and others.

A country music festival became a killing ground when a 64-year-old retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player fired out the windows of his hotel room into the crowd.

Stephen Paddock killed himself as authorities closed in and a clear motive was never established.

MGM previously drew outrage when it filed lawsuits last year against more than 1,900 victims in a bid to avoid liability.

On Thursday, Chelsea Romo, 30, from Temecula, California, who lost her left eye and still has shrapnel lodged in her brain, said of the settlement: “I don’t think anything could ever be enough” because “you can’t bring people back”. She’s always on high alert in public places, she said, and hopes some of the settlement money can also be put towards measures to make spaces safer.