Posted on 10/02/2017 10:14:05 AM PDT by Drew68
The suspected gunman behind the Las Vegas massacre made several large gambling transactions in recent weeks, according to law enforcement officials.
The transactions in Las Vegas by Stephen Paddock were in the tens of thousands, the officials said.
It was not immediately clear if those transactions were losses or wins.
Paddock's brothers were stunned to learn Monday that their sibling was the suspected perpetrator of the largest mass shooting in modern American history.
Eric Paddock of Orlando, Florida, said he had "no idea" why his 64-year-old brother committed the shooting.
“Mars just fell into the earth,” he told NBC News. “We’re completely dumbfounded.”
Eric Paddock said his brother was retired and was "just a guy" who went to the hotels, gambled, and went to shows.
Stephen Paddock's brother Bruce Paddock, who lives in California, said his family grew up in Sun Valley, California. Their father, Benjamin Paddock, was on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list for robbing banks.
At least 58 people were killed when Paddock opened fire into a crowd of approximately 22,000 at an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday night, police said.
Police said more than 500 people had been taken to hospitals.
Bruce, who said he hadn't talked to Stephen, who lived in Mesquite, Nevada, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, in approximately 10 years, said his brother made money through apartment buildings, which he owned and managed with his mother, who lives in Florida.
"I don't know how he could stoop to this low point, hurting someone else," Bruce said.
He added that his brother was a laid-back, "never-in-a-hurry" type of guy. Bruce said his brother was a law-abiding citizen who never did anything violent prior to the shooting.
The shooting is not believed to be connected to international terrorism, NBC News has learned.
The suspect was a licensed pilot, who owned two planes. He also had a hunting license from Alaska.
It is believed he lived in a retirement community in Mesquite.
Public records show Stephen Paddock lived a relatively transient life, moving to 27 different residences between California, Texas and Nevada.
Between 1985 and 1988, he worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin. Public records show he was employed as an "internal auditor."
"We’re cooperating with authorities to answer questions they may have about Mr. Paddock and his time with the company," the company said in a statement.
Police responded to reports of the shooting just after 10 p.m. (1 a.m. ET) in the Mandalay Bay Resort, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Lombardo said Paddock shot and killed himself before police could reach him.
It is still not known what kind of weapon Paddock used, but officials said more than 10 rifles were recovered from his hotel room.
Officials were searching for Marilou Danley, whom they identified as a companion of the suspect, Lombardo said.
Just before 7 a.m. ET, police tweeted that they had "located the female person of interest." Lombardo said Danley was located out of the country and was not believed to be involved in the shooting. He added that Paddock was utilizing some of her identification.
Authorities described having found several weapons in Paddock's hotel room after the shooting.
And a flock of pigs just flew by my window.
This could be a still waters run deep type of situation. Normally placid people go nuts because of the head of pressure that's built up over time. Notice that his girlfriend was out of town. She may have been about to leave him. Or he might simply have been up to his eyeballs in gambling debt.
Has a hunting license...not the same thing.
The guy was a hunter and degenerate gambler, so it's not like these would be out of the ordinary expenses for him. Given that he did $100 a hand poker, it's not impossible that the hotel comped him the room. A gambler is the definition of impulsive, compulsive behavior. The main thing you need to inflict lots of casualties is high ground and a target-rich environment. The 32nd floor is pretty high and an outdoor concert just about fits the bill for target-rich.
Not sure about that, especially on a Sunday-Thursday night.Hotels are rarely fully booked anymore, even during the major conferences like CES. Maybe this concert and its proximity filled Mandalay Bay, but I wouldn't assume it.
Also, the claims are this guy is some sort of professional gambler or wannabe high roller. Casinos will -always- hold rooms open for known gamblers.
If he’s playing $100 a hand poker, they would happily comp his room.
Look at the planning, the timing, the training a guy would need, all the money he spent and the firepower he had. The machine gun is a big clue. Those are difficult to acquire.
No "snapping" snaps like this. Then reports by neighbors that he was gone for six months recently. Asian girlfriend, or friend.
well... I was trying to differentiate between someone with a motive and someone just crazy that want’s to just kill a bunch of random people.
Vegas’ occupancy rate is still down about 4 percent from the pre-2008 Recession days, despite the fact that no new hotels have opened on the Strip and the Rivera has closed.
The idea that it would be impossible for a known gambler to get a that room is silly.
Yeh I thought it was an AK because of the clacking sound but maybe it was just the echo’s around the buildings. He had to be using at least 2 weapons. Mr. GG2 says it sounds on the video like he’s maybe shooting 2 weapons at the same time. Fox is reporting that the authorities found several full auto AR’s in the room. It will be interesting to see what those weapons look like.
The more this unfolds the crazier it sounds. Now the guy’s father was on the FBI most wanted list for bank robbery. I wonder if we will ever know the time of death of this guy?
You don't have to be "rich"..( whatever that actually means to you...) to hunt in Alaska.
I thought the woman was from Oz?
big game hunts can cost 10’s of thousands of dollars. Plus his brother said he was rich, owned 2 planes, ect.
They would not comp him a corner suite on the 32nd floor on a weekend in September/October unless he was a high roller gambling Millions of dollars (yes, we have those here). $100 a hand poker does not get you that suite on a heavy weekend.
Why would you think that?
If you recall, the communication between the 9/11 Terrorists , their primary code word was “Porsche 911
Never heard of this either?
You haven’t been around here much lately. The Strip is jammed with thousands upon thousands of foreigners from Europe and Asia. Impossible to be suddenly comp-ed a suite that was already booked in advance. No, but you are throwing down seven figures in the casino to get that suite on a weekend this time of year.
He booked it Thursday through Sunday on a heavy fall weekend. The Strip was packed this week, as it will be (or would have been) for the next five weeks, and unless this guy was into the casino for seven figures, he wasn’t bumping that prime suite this weekend...unless he booked it well in advance.
Ditto that..........
A suspicious car was seen at the parking area of the place where the girls were murdered that was described as a late model Challenger................
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