Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
Stephen Craig Paddock , born april 9 ,1953 was an American mass murder who perpetrated the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Paddock oppened fire into a crowd of about 22.000 concertgoers attenting a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip killing 60 people and injuring approximately 867. The incident is the deadliest mass shooting by a lone shooter in United states history. and Paddock´s motive remains officially undetermined and the poissible factors are the subject of speculation .
Paddock was a real-estate investor , property manager ,accountant, privat pilot and video poker gambler who lived in Mesquite Nevada.
Paddock was born in Clinton Iowa . where his family lived at the time. he grew up in Tucson, Arizona , an the sun valley neighborhood of Los angeles as the oldtest of four sons of Benjamin Paddock and dolores hudson . Benjamin vas a bank robber hwo was arrested in 1960 when stephen was seven years. Benjamin was later convicted and escaped prison in 1969 , subsesquently appearing on the FBI´s most wanted list
Benjamin paddock .
eric (sitting ) stephen paddock standing up
According to stephens brother Eric ” he ( benjamin paddock ) was never with my mom.” and had “limited interaction” with benjamin following the latter´s reslease from prison .
Paddock´s ex wives in a police interview, he had spoken about how growing up with a single mother . the family´s financial instability caused him to prioritize being self- reliant and self- sustaining .
Paddock attended Richard E.Byrd Middle school and sun valley high school, graduated from john francis polytechnic high school in 1971, and graduated from california state university,northridge 1977,with a degree in business administration.paddock was known to have run a real-.estate buisness with hir brother eric.
Paddock lived in the greater Los Angels Area. and owned personal property in Panorama City, Ceritos and North hollywood from 1970 ´s to early 2000 . He also owned two apartment buildings in Hawthorne california . in addition , he owned an apartment complex in Mesquite,
Meaquite,Nevada where the suspect in the Las Vegas shooting, stephen paddock ,lived . Investigatiors used a robot to remove the garage during the search,oct.2 2017
Relatives said paddock was worth at least 2 ,million when he sold off the real -estate business. among his most profitable iinvestments was an apartment complex purchased in 2004 , which gave him more than 500,000 in annual incom by 2011 . IRS records show he made 5-6 million in profits from itss sale in 2015
Paddock was an avid gambler and although the extent to wich he profited from it is not clear, his reported gambling winning might have been substantial . He was sometimes seen in high- limit rooms , but he was not wlee known among high-stakes gamblers in Las vegas and was not considered a “whhale” ( high roller ) by the casinos. his game of choice was video poker , wich he had played for over 25 years . He usually gambled after dark and slept during the day , he disliked being out in the sun .
Paddock was married and divorced twice . He was first married frm 1977-1979. and for the second time from 1985-1990 ,both marriages in los angeles county ,california .
Paddock lived in Texas and california an then in a retirement community iin Melbourn, florida from 2013 . in 2016 he moved from florida to another retirement home in Mesquite, nevada . According to property records , he bought a new house in Mesquite in january 2015 and sold his two bedroom home in Melbourne.
Paddock lived in Mesquite with his girlfriend,whom he had met several years befor in Reno , Nevada .
According to neighbors ,they also lived together in Reno . many Mesquite residents recalled only seeing paddock arrouind town. those familiar with paddock describes him as someone who did not speak much and kept a low profile. The local gun owner community never saw him at any of the gun clubs or shooting ranges . including makeshift ones in the nearby desert.
An australian aquaitance said he met paddock in the United states and in the philipines .
he describe paddock as intelligent and methodical . In his account. Pddock ssaid he had won money by applying algorithms to gambling on machines . paddock was conversant in gun laws and in defending his view of the secons amendment. The acquaintance considered paddock a generous man whenever he and his girlfriend visited him .
Paddock´s girlfriend stated that he did not talk at lengt about politics and did not belong to any political organizations . in addition , paddock increasingly complained of being sick and was sensitive to chemical smells .During his last months paddock reportedly often smelled of alcohol from early morning .and he appeared despondent He was reported to have filled prescriptions for the anti -anxiety drug valium in 2013 , in 2016 and finally again in june 2017 the latter being four mounths before the shooting. The chief medical officer of the las vegas Recovery center said the effects of the drug can be magified by alcohol ,as confirmed by michael first , a clinical psychiatry professor at columbia university .
The hand -written note was found near a window that paddock had smasched to fire on the crowd , and included calculations about where to aim to kill as many people as possible in the crowd, about 400 metres away from the hotel ,the chilling notes Paddock wrote as he calculated the distance to the concertgoers across the street, so he could use the right weapon to target them
David Newton,an officer with the Las Vegas Police Department K-9 unit told CBS show 60 minutes
” i could see on it he had written the distance, the elevation he was on , the drop of what his bullet was gonna be for the crowd.”
“He was a very typical guset “said steven matinez, senior vice president of global security for MGM resorts, wich owns the mandalay Bay .
” He was , in our estimation,the lowest risk type individual that would come onto our property ”
Paddock was given top- shelf service. allowing him to ride up a service elevator to his room with his luggage and accompanied by a bellhop. During his stay at the mandalay Bay ,he made serveral trips to his home, returning each time with more bags.
In all , he brought in 21 suitcase ,authorities said.
He was checked into suit 32-135 on the 32nd floor ,a 1,700- square-foot corner space featuring floor -to – ceiling windows offering wraparound view overlooking the famed Las vegas strip. He later reserved an adjoining suite, 32-134 , using the namn of his girlfriend. Marilou Danley authorities said.
Surveillance footage showed him walking through the hotel´s barbled -floor lobby , making a purchase in the gift shop ,riding the elevators , sitting at slot machines and video poker machines.
” Everything he did is what you´d expect a normal guest to do ; using food and beverage , resturants , having things delivered to his room martinez said .
” he preferred to play video poker machines , he´d stay at that for hours on end. “
deputy chief andrew walsh of the las vegas police departement .
” He just looks like a middle -aged guy with a lot of luggage goun ´up to his room ” walsh said .
On october 2.2017 . paddock ordred room service and records show that between 2:23 p.m and 9:40 p,m. he opened and closed the doors to boths suites several times .
Jason Aldean had taken the stage around 9:40. that night and many in the crowd of 22.000. were singing along to his hit “when she says baby”but before Aldean could finisch the first verse , he was interrupted by something that sounded at first like firecrackers, wtihin seconds, the noises grew rapid and soon everyone , including Aldean ,recognized the staccato of gunfire.
The time was 10 :05 p.m.
People began to duck and cover .Others dove atop loved ones and petrified strangesrs , using their bdies as human shields
In less than a minute more than 100 rounds rained down on the crowd
“People went in multiple directions ,but not knowing where the rounds were coming from”said walsh. the captain in command of the downtown Las vegas division the night the rampage perpetrated on his turf.
Panicked concertgoes flooded 911 dispatch center with calls .
” There are numerous reports coming in .We have 33 calls holding.” a 911 dispatcher said over an emergency channel , according to a recording of radio transmissions
“It´s an active shooter.”
As officer engstrom and officer cole raced t the scene , a colleague radioed “warning ,be aware , it is automatic fire, fully automatic fire from an elevated postition , take cover.”
“every time an officer keyed a radio mic ,the sound of rapid gunfire could be heard, the officers said .
Once athourities were of the e shooter´s location at the mandala bay police conducted a full sweep of the hotel.
” show me your hands” show me your hands” “one officer was heard in bodycam footage yelling as he andhis well -armed team fanned out in the casino clearing gamblers frm row after row of flashing and ringing slot maschines.
Police SWAT team were foing to floor floor in the glided 43 story tower bursting into rosm with guns drawn and rosuting guests
” There is an active sshoter in the hotel , oke. stay locked in your room” an officer is heard is heard in a body came video telling a startled guste still in bed .
When the SWAT teames made it to the 32nd floor , they were confronted by an eerie silcne and a room -service cart parked outside of suit 32-134 with wires coming out of it.
“What is that cart that ´s in the halway? one ofificers asked.
“i dont know , that´s why ou ´re not going any farther.”
replied 2nd officer.
“they get close enougt to that room , there´s wire , theres cameras what are they wilking into ? is that an IED ! is therre more than one person? how many people are there? whe hade nothing . saids chief walsh
one closer inspetin ,the officser saw the room-service car was riggded .
with small surveillanc camera hidden under a plate and pointed down the hallway at them .
they dismantled the overhead lights to give them cover and place a pbomb strip to the dor of the suit .
“stand by for breach!”
one of the yelled. promting other to cover their ears.
when they entered the room they found paddock dead from a self-inflected gunshots vound.
stephen paddock dead on the floor.
Police seized 24 guns from paddock ´s suite. including AR – 15 AND AR-10 assult rifles with armor -piercing bulets Some of the rifles are seen above Twelve of the rifles had been fitted with ‘bump stock’ devices to make them fire faster, similar to a fully automatic weapon
Paddock fired more than 1,100 bullets, mostly from two windows in the high-rise hotel. Above, some of the bullets on the floor, near the window where he shot from.
Police found over 5. 000 unused roiund of ammunition inside paddocks suit .
Several packages of tannerite, an explosive, were found inside Paddock’s car
According to the report, investigators found 20 two-pound containers of exploding targets, 10 one-pound containers of exploding targets, two 20-pound bags of explosive precursors, a loaded magazine for an AR-10 rifle, a loaded magazine for an AR-15 magazine, boxed ammunition, suitcases and towels inside Paddock’s 2017 Chrysler Pacifica
Mandalay Bay security were first drawn to Paddock’s hotel room when they noticed a stairwell door that had been screwed shut (above). A security officer responded to the floor and heard gunshots,
Paddock set up a camera on a room service cart outside of his room so he could know when officers were arriving outside his door (straight ahead and on the right) Paddock also set up a second camera in the peephole of the hotel room door, as a second vantage into the hallway
Paddock used a computer to livestream the feeds from the cameras so he could watch the hallway from inside his suite
Investigators also included this graphic showing the layout of Paddock’s two connecting rooms. Room 32135 was the larger suite, and room 32134 was the smaller one. He shot out of windows on the northeast side of the larger room and on the east side of the smaller room
Several bullets hit aviation fuel storage tanks at nearby McCarran International Airport that did not explode. Authorities reported finding about 4,000 unused bullets in Paddock’s two-room suite, including incendiary rounds that Lombardo said were not used.
Paddock smuggled a huge array of tools into his hotel room to prepare for the horrific attack
Paddock booked two rooms at the Mandalay Bay that connected through the door above. He shot out of two windows, one in the larger room and one in the small room
Another item found in Paddock’s room and taken as evidence was a blue snorkel mouthpiece attached to some piping. The report doesn’t say what the believe this was for,
Paddock acted alone. Thousands of hours of digital media were reviewed and after all the interviews conducted, no evidence exists to indicate Paddock conspired with or acted in collusion with anybody else. This includes video surveillance, recovered DNA19 and analysis of cellular phones and computers belonging to Paddock.
No suicide note or manifesto was found. Of all the evidence collected from rooms 32-135 and 32-134, there was no note or manifesto stating Paddock’s intentions. The only handwritten documentation found in either room was the small note indicating measurements and distances related to the use of rifles.
There was no evidence of radicalization or ideology to support any theory that Paddock supported or followed any hate groups or any domestic or foreign terrorist organizations. Despite numerous interviews with Paddock’s family, acquaintances and gambling contacts, investigators could not link Paddock to any specific ideology.
Paddock committed no crimes leading up to the October 1st mass shooting. All the weapons he purchased to include all the ammunition, were purchased legally. This includes all the purchases Paddock made at gun stores as well as online purchases. Paddock did not commit a crime until he fired the first round into the crowd at the Las Vegas Village.
Reference the 1,965 investigated leads, 21,560 hours of video, 251,099 images obtained and 746 legal notices filed or sent, nothing was found to indicate motive on the part of Paddock or that he acted with anyone else.
Security Officer Campos was not shot with a BB gun but rather sustained a gunshot wound from one of the rounds fired by Paddock down the hallway of the 100 wing on the 32nd floor. Security Officer Campos did in fact have a pre-planned vacation to Mexico to go visit his father and Security Officer Campos asked law enforcement for permission to make this trip.
One aspect of the investigation focused on Paddock’s financials. The investigation proved Paddock was self-funded through his gambling and past real estate transactions. He was indebted to no one and in fact paid all his gambling debts off prior to the shooting.
Paddock had a reservation for a hotel during the Lollapalooza music festival held at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois during the month of August. Like Route 91, the Lollapalooza festival was held in an open air venue. Paddock specifically requested a room overlooking the venue when he made the reservation. The reservation was cancelled two days prior to the check-in date.
Investigators have been unable to determine if Paddock intended an attack during this festival or if he used it as a means to plan a future attack.
Paddock conducted several internet searches while planning his actions. Search terms included open air concert venues, Las Vegas SWAT tactics, weapons and explosives. Paddock also searched for various gun stores.
The purchasing of over 55 firearms, which were mostly rifles in various calibers, from October 2016 – September 2017. He also bought over 100 firearm related items through various retailers during that period.
Since the shooting , Mandalay Bay has institutded new security mesarues, including uising K-9 units to conduict random checks of luggage, martinez said, senior vice president of global security for MGM resorts .
deputy chief walsh said the hotel also boosted s ots scrutiny of guests including evaluating who cancheck into rooms overlooking oiutdoors venues both Vegas Strips and downtown.
” they´ve been great partners for us .” he said of the casino industry.
But not everyone agrees.
Mandalay Bay and MGM officials have argued in court filings that the mass shooting was clearly an act of terrorism and because of that , they should not be held legally responsible.
Debris is strewn through the scene of a mass shooting at a music festival near mandalay Bay. resort and casino .on Las Vegas Strip.oct 2 ,2017, in Las Vegas.
The company has even taken the controversial step of suing more than 1,000 victims of the attack to escape financial liability .Citing a law passed after the sept .11. 2001 , terrorist attacks , the company argues it is not financially responsible because the security company it hired for the concert was federally certified against terrorist attacks .
Respondin to a backlash from the lawsuit, MGM lawyers contend it is simply a legal maneuver and not meant to insult those injured or killed.
“This is a small city and it´s a big family.” Bowling told ” nightline.” The community depends on Mandalay Bay . we´re a community serving a community. And so, this is our focus : we can mourn wshat´s going on, but we can work together to look to the future, and that there´s hope.“
The lawsuit was suspended while MGM and the survivors attempt to resolve their differences in mediation .
Asked how paddock could sneak that many weapons into the hotel , chuck Bowling,president and chief operating officer for the mandalay Bay, said he was treated as any other guest.
” my first response to that is there are thousand of people walking through the front door, our back door ,from the parking garage with luggage. we greet and welcome them . that´s our first responsibility,” Bowling told ” tolds nigthtline”.
More than a year since the mass murder , investigators ,survivors and the families of those slaughtered are left with one gnawing question above all others ” what possessed a middle- aged rerired accountant to commit the deadliest mass shooting in modern American History?
Other places that hav had mass casualty incidents the shooters have left behind manifestos.in this case ,we just don´t have that ,” Walsh said
An FBI behavioral Analysis Unit did not find a ” single or clear motivating factor “for stephen paddock´s actions ,but coincluded he was in financial trouble and had difficulty coping with his age.
” As he grew older , Paddock became increasingly distressed and intolerant of stimuli while simultaneously failing to nagivate common life stressors affiliate withaging ” the FBI s´s report said .
Stephen paddock captured taking bags to his room. with weapons and ammunitions.
The agency determined he acted alone i in the shooting and was “neither directed inspired , nor enabled by ideologically- motivated persons or groups”.The report also said Paddock had a “desire to die by suicide” and” a desire to attain a certain degree of infamy” through a” mass causualty attack .”/ source FBI.
An FBI interview with the gunman´s fellow gamblers is dtailed in hundreds of pages of documents made public. The gambler ,whse name is redacted in the documents said he belived the stress could have easily causedstephan paddock “to snap “. Paddock , 64,was video poker player who relied on gambling as his main source of income.
The relevation comes years after the FBI in Las Vegas and the local police departement concluded their investigations without a definitive motive, although both agencies said paddock burned through more than 1,5 million ,became obsessed with guns and distanced himself from his girlfriend ( Marilou Danley ) and family in the months leading up to the massacre.
In a statement , Las Vegas police defended their inconclusive findings and dissmissed the importance of the documents released in response to an open-records request from the Wall street journal
“We were unable to determine a motive for the shooter”
the statement said ” Speculating on a motive causes more harm to the hundred of people who were victims that night .”
Agents froom FBI process evidence at the scene of the mass shooting in Las vegas .
Still,the cache of documents offer a new view into the gunman´s mindset throught interview with neighbors, aquaintances and employes of the Las Vegas casinos he Frequented .
Those interviewed by the FBI descibed Paddock as a ” strange” introvert who never made eye contact and only wanted to talk about gambling while the fellow gambler told the FBI that Paddock was”very upset” that the red -carpet treatment for high rollers seemed to be fading.
According to the gambler,casinos had previously treated high rollers like paddock to free cruises, flights,penthouse suitesrides in “nice cars” and wine country tours But in the years before the Oct.1,2017mass shooting in Las Vegas,the gambler said casinos had begun banning some high rollers” for playing well and winning large quantities of money” Paddock himself had been banned from three Renoi casinos ,according to the documents.
Kelly McMachill, a former Las Vegas Metropolitan police departement official who headed the agency´s criminal investigation into the shooting, said there was no strong indication that paddock´s action were driven by resentment towards the casino industry.
” There´s no way the LVMPD would have hidden any potential motive from our victims s ans survivors for five years ,” McMahill said .
” The 10- minutes massacre unfolded on the final night of the thre-day route 91 harvest music festival across the street from the Mandalay Bay where Paddock was staying on the 32nd floor.
Authorities have said Paddock unleashed a barrage of bullets into the crowd of 22.000 people from his corner suite with a commanding view of the strip and the consert grounds.
His gambling habits made him a sough-after casino patron.Mandalay bay employees gave him the $590-per-suite – per – night for free and let him use a private service elevator to take up his multiple suitcases. hidden inside those suitcases were the guns he´d use for the massacre
broken window , view from paddocks suite 0ct 2.2017.
A dozen of paddock´s weapons were modified with rapid -fire” bumb stocks” attachments that effectively convert semi-automatic rifles into fully automated weapons .some had bipod braces and scopes. Authorities said hisguns hade been legally purchased .
But before setting up his perch in the Mandalay Bay,Paddock also researched other large venues .He booked rooms overlooking chicago Lollapalaooza festival in August 2017 and the life is beautiful festival downtown Las Vegas. near the strip .
” What we know from ( paddock´s internet) search history is that he was looking for a large crowd of people ,which ,of course, he ended up findinding”. said McMachill, the former las vegas police official .
A spokesperson for FBI in Las Vegas declined to comment. In the agency´s final report released in 2019, it said paddock had sought notoriety in the attack and maybe wanted t follow his father´s criminal footsteps.Ther report also said his physical and mental health was declining as his wealth diminished .
Paddock acted alone , killed himself as SWAT officers closed in and left no not about his motive for the rampage .
“If we ever discover a motive, whether it´s 10 years from now,20 years from now , i have faith that LVMPD would contakt victims first before making something public ” McMahil said.” it´the right thing to do .”
