Stephen Paddock, Las Vegas Shooter: Retired pilot and son of a bank robber

The last time Eric Paddock, Stephen Paddock's brother, who shot 59 people from the window of his Las Vegas hotel room on October 2 and injured more than 500, communicated with him in mid-September, when Stephen wrote a message inquiring about the health of their 90-year-old mother. Due to Hurricane Irma, electricity went out in the Orlando, Florida area where she lived. Stephen Paddock, who lives in Nevada, then called his mother, and then sent her a walker to make it easier for the woman to walk.

Just two weeks later, police will find 64-year-old Paddock with a bullet through his head on the floor of a hotel room, from the window of which he staged the most mass shooting in U.S. history.

Source: CNN

According to the shooter's younger brother, Paddock was an "ordinary guy", a "loner" and childless, despite existing relationships and short marriages. Paddock was not seen to have a particular predilection for politics or religion, worked as an accountant and liked to play poker in a casino. An ordinary guy who can be seen sitting alone in a bar and sipping beer. Who goes on cruises and plays video poker. Who sends a box of cookies to his mother.

"I can't even imagine that my brother could shoot a bunch of people he didn't even know. Something clicked on him." Shortly after the tragedy, the terrorist organization ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting, calling Paddock its "soldier." So far, the FBI has not found any links between the pensioner and terrorists.

News agencies are trying to find out at least a hint of the motive of the Las Vegas shooter. According to local police, they did not know the identity of the shooter and believe that he acted alone. In the past, Paddock often bought firearms, but most likely the purchase was legal. Employees of the Guns & Guitars store said that they sold Paddock a gun and did not notice any signs that the man was mentally unstable or not himself.

Stephen Paddock has never had any problems with the law, alcohol or drugs, only a couple of fines for violating traffic rules. In 2012, Paddock sued Cosmopolitan Hotels & Resorts Inc., an entertainment complex in Las Vegas, because he fell in the hotel building due to a "dangerous obstacle." The lawsuit was dismissed, and both sides came to a mutual agreement in 2014.

In the shooter's room, police found at least 23 firearms, including rifles with a telescopic sight.

Paddock's brother said that he knew about the presence of weapons. His children sometimes went with his uncle to shoot plates, but Eric Paddock would not call his brother a hunter. Although he admits that he had little contact with him, since they lived far from each other.

In 2016, Stephen Paddock moved to live in Mesquite, Nevada, in a quiet suburb where mostly pensioners lived, 129 kilometers from Las Vegas. There he lived with 62-year-old girlfriend Marilou Denly (pictured). The woman was not in the country at the time of the shooting. The police still believe that she is not involved in this.

According to neighbors, Stephen Paddock was a gambler and a successful real estate investor, he owned several apartments and houses.

Paddock was married twice. The first marriage lasted two years — from 1977 to 1979. He remarried in 1985, but divorced five years later.

The police confirmed the information that the shooter had a pilot's license and owned several planes. However, he did not fly, because he did not pass the medical examination required for flight authorization.

During the search of the shooter's house, the police found 19 more firearms, explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Ammonium nitrate, a component of explosives, was found in the car.

It became known that Paddock's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock (pictured), was a bank robber. According to the FBI, he was on the list of the most wanted criminals from 1960 to 1977. In the late 1960s, he was recognized as a psychopath. In 1969, Benjamin Hoskins escaped from prison and hid from the authorities until '78, when he was arrested in Oregon. He died a few years ago.

The shooter's brother, however, refuses to believe that Paddock inherited criminal tendencies from his father. Nevertheless, he could not explain the motives of the killer.