Gunman who opened fire from Mandalay Bay sued the Cosmopolitan for a slip and fall years earlier

The gunman who checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and open fired on a crowd of country festival goers leaving 58 dead appears to have tangled with a different casino on the Las Vegas Strip in a lawsuit five years ago.
Stephen Paddock sued the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, about a mile and a half north from where the shooting took place, in Clark County District Court for negligence after he slipped and fell on an "obstruction on the floor in an area intended for foot traffic" in October 2011. In his complaint, Paddock said that he sustained "shock and injury to his body, nervous system and person" after the fall, which would continue to cause "physical, mental and nervous pain and suffering."
The case was dismissed in October 2014 after the parties agreed to drop the lawsuit.
Jared Richards, an attorney with Clear Counsel Law Group who represented Paddock, said the law firm is "horrified" by the news of the Sunday night shooting.
"Our hearts go out to the victims and their families," Richards said. "As indicated in public records, Stephen Paddock was a former client on an unrelated legal issue. As a matter of company and legal policy we don't talk about our clients before, during or after a case."
Stephen Paddock lawsuit against Cosmopolitan Las Vegas by Megan Messerly on Scribd
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