$6.95 million approved to help Las Vegas shooting victims

The Board of Examiners on Tuesday voted to spend $6.95 million from the Victims of Crime reserves to help victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting in Las Vegas.

A total of 58 people were killed and more than 500 wounded or injured by the lone gunman who fired hundreds of bullets into the crowd attending the Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip.

VOC Coordinator Michelle Morgando told the board chaired by Gov. Brian Sandoval they’ve received and processed 2,737 claims from victims and new applications are arriving daily.

“We currently are projecting our total expanse on these claims to reach $14 million over the life of the claims,” she said.

She said total reserves in the fund designed to help victims of crime pay some of their medical and other expenses are $12.6 million and they expect added revenues of $5 million for fiscal year 2018. She said this funding will enable the program to pay up to $13.2 million which will leave $4.3 million in reserves to handle other claims.

She said this transfer of funds will enable the VOC program to pay all current claims without reducing payments while they wait for added funding from the federal government.

“Fortunately, we expect to obtain additional federal grant funding to offset these extraordinary expenses,” she said.

Sandoval emphasized no amount of money can truly compensate victims and survivors of the massacre. He said the VOC money is in addition to the “Go Fund Me” cash being contributed by people around the state and the west. Those funds, he said already total more than $10 million.

VOC money is available for a variety of “billed” costs victims suffer because of a crime including medical treatment, prescriptions, lost wages, funeral expenses and counseling. They’re not available for pain and suffering but officials say the private contributions are possible for those types of costs.