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Las Vegas: 59 Dead, 527 Injured as Police Search for Shooter’s Motive

HeadlineOct 03, 2017

In Las Vegas, the toll in Sunday night’s mass shooting rose overnight to 59 dead and 527 wounded, as investigators searched for clues about what drove 64-year-old Nevada resident Stephen Paddock to carry out the worst massacre in modern U.S. history. Police say they found Paddock dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly before midnight Sunday after they used an explosive to break into his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, where he was holed up with an arsenal of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Paddock lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. He previously worked as an accountant and a property manager, and spent three years working at a weapons company that was later acquired by Lockheed Martin. Neighbors described Paddock as a recluse who spent long hours playing video poker. Stephen Paddock’s father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was once on the FBI’s most wanted list, after he escaped from a federal prison in the 1960s after a conviction on serial bank robbery charges. At the time, the FBI called Benjamin Paddock psychopathic and said he “reportedly has suicidal tendencies and should be considered armed and very dangerous.” On Monday, Stephen Paddock’s brother, Eric Paddock, told reporters the massacre was a complete surprise to the family.

Eric Paddock: “Just nothing. It’s all in the public record. He did stuff. He went to college. He had a job. You know, we owned some apartments, we sold some apartments. I mean, there’s nothing.”

Police now say Paddock’s girlfriend, Marilou Danley, was out of the country at the time of the shooting and has been cleared of any involvement.

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