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25 Investigates: Vegas gunman was son of bank robber, led unremarkable life

BOSTON — Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old gunman responsible for one of the worst mass shootings in American history, set off no red flags to law enforcement before his deadly attack in Las Vegas.

The FBI once described Paddock’s father – a convicted bank robber – as “psychopathic,” but much of his son’s life remains a mystery.

25 Investigates uncovered a paper trail revealing the unremarkable life of the 64-year-old Stephen Paddock before he killed and injured hundreds in a massacre at an outdoor concert along the Las Vegas Strip Sunday night.

Paddock most recently lived in a Nevada retirement community that offers pool parties and ice cream socials.

Paddock also had a pilot’s license with a medical note requiring, “glasses for near vision,” according to FAA records.

In 2012, he sued Cosmopolitan Hotels, a property on the Las Vegas Strip, in an injury case, but it was later dismissed in 2014.

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25 Investigates found Paddock lived or owned property or lived in Nevada, Florida, Texas and California.

"He was a nice guy. I mean, he was kind of quirky but a nice guy," said Priscilla McBride, his former neighbor in Mesquite, Texas.
But neither police nor public records in those states revealed any criminal history for Paddock.

The same can’t be said for his late father, known as Benjamin Hoskins Paddock – among a long list of aliases.

The convicted bank robber landed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List after escaping federal prison in 1969. In his wanted poster, the FBI warned he was “diagnosed as psychopathic” and was known to carry firearms.

But his son, Stephen Paddock, didn’t have the same history with guns. Despite widespread media reports shortly after the massacre that Paddock had a hunting license from Alaska, 25 Investigates found he had only obtained a three-day fishing license in 2009 and 2010.

All of this continues to raise questions for investigators about how Paddock got the guns he used to carry out the attack or even how he learned to use them.

There are still a lot of holes in the timeline of Paddock’s life, but defense contractor Lockheed Martin confirmed to 25 Investigates that he briefly worked for a predecessor company for several years in the 1980s.

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