The 7 Investigators have been tracking down new information about the man who police say was responsible for the massacre, including a Michigan connection with this heartbreaking story.
Sixty-four-year-old Stephen Paddock does not have a criminal record, and his family is absolutely dumbfounded that he could commit such a horrifying crime. His brother telling reporters that Stephen Paddock was a multi-millionaire, who made a lot of his money investing in real estate, and he wasn’t aware of any financial problems.
“It’s like an asteroid fell out of the sky,” said Eric Paddock, as he described learning the news that his brother, Stephen Paddock, was responsible for the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
“There’s not even anything I can say. I mean, how do you??? I mean, my brother did this- I – this is like it was done, like he shot us,” said Paddock in disbelief.
Investigators in Las Vegas say Stephen Paddock killed at least 59 people, as he fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino.
“He had a couple of guns, but they were all hand guns, legal – he might have had one long gun. But he had them in a safe. There’s no – he had no machine guns, I moved his house. I mean – there were no machine guns,” said Eric Paddock.
Eric Paddock says he last heard from his brother in September when he texted family members to make sure they got their power restored after Hurricane Irma.
“He’s never even drawn his gun. It makes no sense. He’s never hit anybody,” said Paddock.
Here’s what else we know about Stephen Paddock:
- He lived in a retiree community in Mesquite, Nevada.
- He previously lived near Orlando, where his brother Eric currently lives.
- Eric Paddock says his brother played high stakes video poker, and once texted him a picture that he won “$40,000 on a slot machine.”
- Stephen Paddock had a pilot license and a hunting license for Alaska.
- he Paddock’s father was once on the FBI’s most wanted list for bank robbery. The feds described the late Benjamin Hoskins Paddock as “psychopathic,” but by all accounts, the Paddock brothers had very little contact with their father.
- Stephen Paddock is divorced and had no children.
At one point Monday, police were looking for Marilou Danley, Paddock’s girlfriend. They have now said she had nothing to do with the massacre.
“She’s a nice lady, I’ve met her 3 or 4 times. She’s got a FB page, she sends cookies to my mom,” said Eric Paddock.
He says he has no idea what could have prompted his brother to gun down so many people.
“No religious affiliation, no political affiliation, no – he just – hung out,” said Eric Paddock. When reporters asked if Stephen Paddock had any history of mental illness, Eric replied: “Not a bit.”
Eric Paddock’s son lives here in Michigan – he is the nephew of the shooter. He has worked at several Catholic schools in the area. A few years ago, the nephew ran for mayor in Livonia.
We have reached out to him to see if he wants to share anything about his uncle, or his family’s utter disbelief with what’s happened. We have not yet heard back from him.
