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.
they have to mention that he’s a hunter....
why do these nuts nearly always kill someone innocent when they are mad at someone?
Did he own a Dodge Challenger?
Just askin’...
Bernie Sanders was a gun owner I believe
The bodies aren't even cold yet.
What is there to report? As of now, Paddock has no social media accounts, no arrest record, a foreign girlfriend who's out of the country, and a distant brother who barely speaks to him.
Not much to build a profile with.
Here’s a thought... Maybe this dude was staying at the hotel and instead of actually being the shooter, he was just a patsy left behind to confuse the authorities.
The California brother seems to know a lot about a brother he hasn’t talked to in over 10 years.
what are the odds on that?
If he is a pilot.. he would have had almost no criminal record, since pilots have to reveal even a traffic ticket each time they renew their medical.
This was planned well in advance. He didn’t “snap.”
There are only two ways to regularly earn money gambling in a casino:
1. Poker, where you’re playing against other patrons and not against the casino
2. Cheating
again, big difference between being a gun owner (most likely for personal protection) and being a big game hunter in Alaska.
His brother hadn’t spoken to him in about ten years! He certainly doesn’t know what he was up to in that case.
Now that sounds like a Bourne Movie plot ...
Just remember: never settle!
Or just having a fun time knowing he won’t have to pay back the debt...
Or he'd already snapped and wanted to gamble away all his money before killing a bunch of innocent people and his own worthless self.
>hunted in Alaska..
>relatively rich then.
>and a hunter would not tend to be a leftist... this is looking for and more like someone who just “snapped”.
Someone listed his living arrangements which included 15 years living in California City, the armpit of the Mojave desert. Rich people don’t live there. However, he owned 2 planes and California City has long been rumored as prime air drug smuggling location.
Having lived in the area I met one reformed drug smuggling pilot was living in the city because he used to fly drugs into it from Mexico. He’d converted to Christianity and gotten married and left that life behind after a stint in jail.
It wouldn’t shock me if this has a cartel connection of some type.
1. Poker, where you’re playing against other patrons and not against the casino
2. Cheating
Apparently Stephen Paddock was wealthy.
Gunman Stephen Paddock was an accountant who played $100-a-hand-poker
...Eric Paddock told CNN on Monday his brother had worked as an accountant and had plenty of money. "He was a wealthy guy playing video poker... on cruises," he said, adding that his brother could afford anything he wanted and played $100-a-hand poker. Authorities say Stephen Paddock, 64, lived within easy driving distance of Las Vegas, had a pilot's license and had legally purchased some guns...
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