VEGAS (AP) -  The chief executive of MGM Resorts International is calling last year's mass shooting in Las Vegas "an unforgettable act of terror."

Company chairman and CEO Jim Murren said in a statement Monday that the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting that killed 58 people and injured more than 850 was a "senseless act of evil." MGM owns the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the gunman was when he opened fire into an outdoor concert crowd below on the Las Vegas Strip. Police and the FBI have not called the shooting a terrorist act or said the Mandalay Bay gunman was linked to a conspiracy.

They say he acted alone. How the event is characterized is important for MGM Resorts because it wants to invoke a federal anti-terrorism law enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, in defense of negligence lawsuits alleging that the casino giant could have prevented the shooting.

In his statement, Murren says that through unity and determination the Oct. 1 anniversary can become a day of healing and hope.