MGM Resorts, owner of the Las Vegas hotel that was the scene of the worst mass shooting in modern US history, has sued victims of the massacre, triggering howls of protest.

The suit does not seek money, but rather aims to force around 1,000 people suing MGM over the October shooting rampage that left 58 dead at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, to drop their suits on grounds that MGM Resorts is not liable. The group filed suit on Friday in Nevada and in federal court in Los Angeles. In the October 1 shooting, a man named Stephen Paddock rained bullets over a music festival from the 32nd floor of the hotel with powerful rifles.