The Deadliest Shooting in American History

Stephen Craig Paddock, born April 9, 1953, was the perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Paddock opened fire on a crowd of roughly 22,000 concertgoers at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 60 and wounding approximately 867 (at least 413 of whom were wounded by gunfire).

Following the massacre, Paddock committed suicide in his hotel room. The incident is the deadliest lone gunman mass shooting in US history. Paddock's motivation is yet unknown, and the probable explanations are being speculated on.

The Early Life Of The Shooter

Paddock was born in Clinton, Iowa, where his family at the time resided. Being the oldest of four boys of Benjamin Paddock and Dolores Hudson, he grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and the Sun Valley district of Los Angeles.

Benjamin was a bank robber who was apprehended when Stephen was seven years old in 1960. Benjamin was eventually convicted and escaped from prison in 1969, landing him on the FBI's most-wanted list.

Following Benjamin's release from prison, Stephen had "little interaction" with him. Growing up with a single mother and the family's financial turmoil pushed him to prioritize being self-reliant and self-sustaining.

Stephen worked several jobs before investing in real estate which made him a millionaire. He was also an avid gambler.

Before The Shooting

Between October 2016 and September 28, 2017, Paddock drastically increased his weapons purchases. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, he purchased over 55 firearms, the majority of which were rifles. He also bought other firearms-related equipment.

A home video system caught Paddock travelling alone to a target practice location near his home two days before the shooting.

Paddock planned the attack carefully. He checked into the hotel on September 25, six days before the shooting, with ten shooting-range bags and a computer. On September 29, he moved into a second apartment, 32-134, which was attached to the first and overlooked the festival grounds. He stayed in both, in the days leading up to the shooting.

The Day Of The Shooting

On the evening of October 1, 2017, Paddock opened fire on a huge gathering of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from his hotel room, Room 32135, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, killing 60 people and injuring 867 others. He then shot himself to death.

Paddock began firing hundreds of bullets in rapid succession into the audience at 10:05 p.m. He began with a few single rounds before moving on to fire in large bursts. He called it quits ten minutes later, at 10:15 p.m. He committed suicide by shooting himself through the mouth.

After Paddock committed suicide, authorities discovered 23 firearms and one handgun in his apartments. Several of the rifles were mounted on bipods and had high-tech telescopic sights. All fourteen AR-15-style rifles were modified with bump stocks, which allow semiautomatic guns to fire at high rates, simulating fully automatic shooting.

Paddock utilized these stocks to fire at the crowd in quick succession, according to audio recordings of the attack.

Crime Investigation

Together with the weaponry and accessories discovered in Paddock's hotel room, there was a note with handwritten calculations about where he should aim to maximize his accuracy.

The note included the target's real distance, his precise elevation, and the bullet trajectory relative to the line of fire.

The trunk of his car contained 1,600 rounds of ammunition, 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of tannerite, a binary explosive used to create explosive targets for gun ranges, and ammonium nitrate, a substance frequently used in improvised explosive devices.

Police claim that Paddock acted alone. His motivation is still unknown.

Brain pathology, at first believed to be benign, has been discussed as a potential factor. To conduct a more thorough examination of Paddock's brain, Stanford University was given access to his remains. No abnormalities were discovered by the Stanford pathologists in the brain.

Some Photos from the crime scene