Stephen Paddock: Who Is The Las Vegas Shooter And What Was His Motive?

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Those who are just waking up are doing so to the chilling news about the Las Vegas shooting. Police have now released the name of the shooter, and investigators are digging into his life, his background, and everything else they can find out about him. According to police, Stephen Paddock killed at least 50 people and injured more than 200 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival Sunday night. Officers shot the gunman and killed him and as the death toll from the Las Vegas shooting continues to rise, the burning question is this one. Why?

According to various media outlets, the shooting is one of the deadliest in recent U.S. history, even surpassing the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting last year, which claimed almost 50 lives. Police say 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino around 10:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Jason Aldean was on stage performing at the time of the shooting, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said during a press conference. Officers broke down the door of his hotel room and then opened fire on him and killed him.

Las Vegas Metro Police say that Stephen Paddock was a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada. Investigators have not found any links to international terrorism. Upon searching his hotel room, they found several weapons, including a number of rifles, according to Lombardo. Officials believe he checked into the hotel as a guest before the shooting rampage.

According to various media outlets, Stephen Paddock was a grandfather who lived in a golf and retirement community in Mesquite, a town with a population of approximately 20,000 in the Las Vegas desert. According to records seen by Express, Paddock and his roommate lived in a three-year-ol home valued at nearly $400,000. A spokesman for the Mesquite Police tells the media that they don’t have much on Stephen Paddock. They have no reports of any contacts with him, and he has no local arrest record or even any traffic violations. Investigators are still trying to determine his motive and have no idea why a man who seems to have stayed out of trouble would resort to such a violent act.

For hours after the shooting, police were still searching for Marilou Danley, who is described as the roommate or companion of Stephen Paddock, although NBC News now reports that they have arrested her.

At least one off-duty Las Vegas officer was shot, according to officials, and NBC News reports that several other off-duty police officers are believed to have been injured or killed in the shooting rampage. Witnesses give chilling accounts of the crime, reporting what sounded to them like firecrackers going off, sounds of a machine gun.

One witness told the media, “People kept dropping and dropping…”

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