Las Vegas shooting: Everything we know about gunman Stephen Paddock
The Las Vegas shooter has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock whose father was reportedly once on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
Police said that the Paddock, who killed at least 58 people and injured a further 515, was from Mesquite, Nevada. His brother, Eric, said he was a multimillionaire who had made his money in real estate.
He shot hundreds of bullets from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. 10 weapons were discovered in his room.
It is not clear what his motive for the attack was.
A SWAT team reportedly found Paddock dead after entering his hotel room using a controlled explosion. Police said that he killed himself after carrying out the devastating attack.
Who was Stephen Paddock?
Paddock is believed to be a grandfather who lived in a retirement village in Mesquite, Nevada, which is roughly 80 miles from Las Vegas on the border of Arizona.
US records show Paddock lived in a three-year-old, 396,000-dollar (£297,554) two-bedroom home in the tiny desert community.
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Following a search of Paddock’s home, police said that they discovered ‘nothing out of the ordinary’.
‘It’s a nice, clean home and there’s nothing out of the ordinary’, said a Mesquite police spokesman.
‘I believe there were some weapons found and maybe some ammunition. As far as how many and what type I can’t give that information out because I don’t know it.’
He also confirmed that the Mesquite police department had not had any previous dealings with Paddock.
The house is currently being searched by detectives, Clark County sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters.
The shooter’s family
The gunman has been described as a multi-millionaire property developer who liked to gamble large amounts of money at the world-famous casinos in Las Vegas.
Eric Paddock told reporters his brother had no known political or religious agenda and often received free rooms and meals from casinos, telling reporters: “He was a guy who had money.
“He went on cruises and gambled.”
He also said their father was a bank robber who was once on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
Law enforcement officials told CNN that Benjamin Hoskins Paddock was known by several aliases including ‘Big Daddy’. He was named one of the FBI’s most-wanted in June 1969 and was described on a poster as being “diagnosed as psychopathic”.
He had been sentenced to 20 years following a bank robbery but escaped from a Texas prison in 1960.
Eric Paddock added: ‘The fact that he had those kinds of weapons is just … where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that.
‘He’s a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas.’
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What was the motive for the shooting?
The motive for the attack is not yet clear. Sheriff Lombardo confirmed that Paddock did not have any ties to militant groups.
An FBI agent confirmed that Paddock had no links with international terror cells. Despite this, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the incident. The CIA said that it was aware that ISIS had made the claim but urged people not to jump to conclusions.
According to public records, he did not have any previous criminal convictions in Nevada.
The owner of a gun shop in Mesquite, Nevada, said Paddock bought firearms there.
Guns & Guitars general manager Christopher Sullivan said in a statement he had no signs of being unfit to buy guns.
Police confirmed that the incident was not being treated as terrorism.
Asked if the attack was thought to be terror-related Sheriff Lombardo said: ‘No, not at this point. We believe it was a local individual. He resides here locally.
‘I’m not at liberty to give you his place of residence yet, because it’s an ongoing investigation, we don’t know what his belief system was at this time.’
Did the gunman act alone?
Police believe that Paddock acted alone and did not have any accomplices.
Officers were initially searching for a woman named Marilou Danley in connection with the incident.
Danley lived with Paddock in his Mesquite home, according to Nevada public records.
She has since been traced abroad and is no longer a ‘person of interest’ in the investigation.
Las Vegas police confirmed that the killer was using some of Danley’s identification when he checked into his hotel.
