Monday, 2 October 2017

Photos: Identity of Las Vegas shooter revealed as his brother says family is "dumbfounded"

The identity of the man who opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village late on Sunday night killing at least 58 and injuring over 515 people has been revealed.

The shooter's name is Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old white male from Mesquite, Nevada. The shooting which started on Sunday night and continued into the wee hours of Monday morning is said to be the deadliest in American history.

Paddock had lived on Babbling Brook Court in Mesquite, Nevada, since June 2016. He previously lived in Reno, Nevada, from 2011 to 2016, and also had an address in Melbourne, Florida, from 2013 to 2015. He has also lived in Henderson, Nevada, and several locations in Texas and California since 1990. He was born April 9, 1953, Police said. Police say when they breached the hotel room from where the shots were being fired, Paddock was dead. He is believed to have shot himself.

Paddock's family are shocked by what happened. His brother, Eric Paddock said that he was a normal guy who must have "snapped" before carrying out the worst mass shooting in American history. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail, Eric Paddock said that "something happened" to make his brother Stephen go on the deadly rampage. Eric said that there was "absolutely no indication he could do something like this" and said that Stephen had no political or religious affiliation.

He said: "He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something".

He continued: "We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded. We have absolutely no idea. Our condolences go to the victims and all their families'.

Eric said that he and Stephen, 64, lived on different coasts and that they did not speak that often. Eric appeared in a state of shock during the interview, fighting back tears and barely able to speak in full sentences. He said that his mother was also "in shock" and struggling to cope with the news. He added that his brother had never been "an avid gun guy at all", and that he was at a loss as to where Stephen got his arsenal of automatic weapons from.
He said: "He's just a guy who lived in Mesquite who drove down and gambled in Las Vegas and... liked burrito. Not an avid gun guy at all...where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background."

Eric was relieved to learn the gunman hadn't hurt his girlfriend 62-year-old Marilou Danley.

"That's why I was on the phone with the cops," he added. "We were worried he might have hurt her too."

Eric said that they were hoping that the police does not kill his brother's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who is wanted by the FBI and was living with Stephen in Mesquite.

He said: "She has nothing to do with this, at least from my perspective."
He went on to say: "Our family is OK, we're sitting in here in our house hoping that everyone doesn't attack us. My mother is 90 years old, lives down the street from me, we're just completely dumbfounded. You can imagine how this is affected her."

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