Stephen Paddock and the 2017 Las Vegas Massacre
Background
Stephen Craig Paddock was born on April 9, 1953, in Clinton, Iowa. He later worked as an accountant, auditor, property manager and real-estate investor. By 2017, he was living in Mesquite, Nevada, and was known as a frequent high-stakes video poker gambler who spent considerable time in casinos. He had no significant criminal record, no known affiliation with a terrorist organization and no publicly identified history of politically motivated violence.
Paddock was 64 years old when he carried out the deadliest mass shooting committed by a lone gunman in modern United States history. Despite extensive investigations into his finances, computers, communications, travel, medical history and personal relationships, authorities never established a definitive motive for the attack.
Preparation for the Attack
Paddock began preparing hotel rooms overlooking the Route 91 Harvest music festival grounds at Las Vegas Village, an outdoor concert venue across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. He checked into Mandalay Bay on September 25, 2017, and occupied adjoining suites numbered 32-135 and 32-134 on the hotel's 32nd floor.
Over several days, Paddock transported numerous suitcases and shooting bags into the suites. Inside the rooms, he assembled a large arsenal that included 23 rifles and one handgun. Several rifles were equipped with high-capacity magazines, scopes, bipods and bump-stock devices that allowed rapid successive fire. Investigators also found thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Paddock placed surveillance cameras in the hallway and near the hotel-room doors, apparently so he could watch for security officers or police approaching the suites. He also obstructed doors and prepared firing positions near two windows facing the festival grounds. A handwritten note contained calculations relating to the distance and trajectory between the hotel and the crowd below.
The Route 91 Harvest Festival
On Sunday, October 1, 2017, approximately 22,000 people gathered for the final night of the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Country singer Jason Aldean was performing when Paddock began firing from the Mandalay Bay shortly after 10:05 p.m.
Paddock broke windows in both hotel suites and fired downward into the densely packed audience from a height of approximately 320 feet. The crowd initially struggled to understand what was happening. Some people mistook the first bursts for fireworks or sound-system problems before concertgoers began collapsing and others recognized the sound of gunfire.
The open festival grounds offered limited protection. Thousands of people ran toward exits, climbed fences, hid beneath stages and barricades or attempted to shelter behind concession stands and equipment. Many concertgoers remained in the exposed area to assist wounded strangers. Off-duty police officers, firefighters, nurses, emergency medical workers and civilians applied pressure to wounds, carried victims and used vehicles as improvised ambulances.
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