Who is Stephen Paddock?

The lone gunman, Stephen Craig Paddock was a retiree and a gambling addict who used to spend most of his time at casinos. A name in the real estate business, Paddock had properties in Texas and was well-known in casinos across Nevada. According to Eric Paddock, the gunman’s brother, “He was a wealthy guy and he liked to play video poker and he liked to go on cruises.” Eric described his brother as peaceful, saying he moved back to the red desert hills of Nevada because gambling is legal there and he hated Central Florida’s humidity.

A wounded person is walked in on a wheelbarrow as Las Vegas police respond during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip. (Source: AP)

According to the Associated Press, Stephen Paddock appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a notorious bank robber, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock tried to run down an FBI agent with his car in Las Vegas in 1960 and wound up on the agency’s most wanted list after escaping from a federal prison in Texas in 1968, when Stephen Paddock was a teen.The oldest of four children, Paddock was seven when his father was arrested for the robberies.

Stephen Paddock lived in a tidy Nevada retirement community where the amenities include golf, tennis, and bocce in Mesquite. He was a wealthy real-estate investor, who recently shipped his 90-year-old mother a walker and liked to play high-stakes video poker in Las Vegas. Described by his brother as a multimillionaire, he had business dealings and owned numerous properties in Nevada.

Heavily armed police searched Paddock’s home on Monday in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas near the Arizona border, looking for clues. Paddock lived there with his 62-year-old girlfriend, who authorities said was out of the country when the shooting happened.

The U.S. flag flies at half-staff in the wake of a mass shooting in Las Vegas at the White House in Washington. (Source: Reuters)

Stephen Paddock’s weapons stack

According to  AP, Paddock had two “bump-stocks” that could have converted semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones providing him with the capability of firing at a rate of 400 to 800 rounds per minute. Along with the bump stocks, Paddock also had 23 guns in the hotel room as he rained bullets on concertgoers 32 floors down his hotel room in Mandalay Bay resort. Law enforcement officials upon storming into his room found 198 firearms and explosives. According to the Las Vegas Police Department, they also found several pounds of ammonium nitrate, which is used to make explosives in Paddock’s car.

Law enforcement officials upon storming into his room found 198 firearms and explosives. According to the Las Vegas Police Department, they also found several pounds of ammonium nitrate, which is used to make explosives in Paddock’s car.

The lone wolf style attacker, however, was found dead as police officials entered his room in the hotel.

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