Stephen Paddock: What do we know about Las Vegas gunman?

  • Video report by ITV News Correspondent Paul Davies

The gunman responsible for the worst mass shooting in modern US history has been named by police as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock.

Paddock is believed to have killed himself before a police SWAT team burst into his room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where "at least 10 rifles" were found..

Here is what we know about the man believed to have killed more than 58 people in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

  • No known police record

It did not initially appear that Paddock had any previous police record or religious affiliation.

Clark County sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters police had "no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory".

"The only thing we can tell is he received a citation several years ago, and that citation was handled as a matter of normal practice in the court system," the sheriff said.

Speaking to CBS News in Orlando, Florida, his emotional brother, Eric Paddock, said his brother had "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation", or history of mental illness.

The FBI said it had determined there was no connection between the shooter and an international terror group.

  • The son of "psychopath" bank robber

Paddock was the son of a bank robber once on the FBI's most wanted list, according to his family.

His brother Eric Paddock said that their father was bank robber Benjamin Hoskins Paddock who was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list until 1977.

The shooter's father was bank robber Benjamin Hoskins Paddock. Credit: FBI

Described as an avid gambler, he spent nearly a decade as a fugitive after springing from a Texan prison in 1968, the Arizona Republic reported at the time.

An FBI poster described him as a "psychopath" who should be treated as "armed and very dangerous".

  • "Just a guy who went to the hotels, gambled, and went to shows"

Eric Paddock said he had "no idea" why his brother committed the shooting and that he was "completely dumbfounded".

"If he had killed my kids I couldn't be more dumbfounded," he told reporters.

Eric said his brother was a multimillionaire who made much of his money investing in real estate and he was also an accountant for many years.

Paddock said his brother was retired and was "just a guy" who went to the hotels, gambled, and went to shows.

"He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas," he said.

He said he had no idea where his brother had got the weapons used in the shooting.

Eric said Stephen owned "a couple of handguns" but nothing else he had been aware of.

He said: "The fact that he had those kinds of weapons is just...where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that."

This is footage of Stephen Paddock appearing to slip and fall in 2011. He attempted to sue the Las Vegas casino he was in, but it is understood it was unsuccessful.

  • Where was he from?

US records show Paddock lived in a three-year-old, $396,000 (£297,554) two-bedroom home in the desert town of Mesquite, 80 miles north east of Las Vegas, near the Arizona state border.

The house is currently being searched by detectives.

Local media said Paddock had also previously lived in Reno, Nevada, California and Florida.

Paddock owned a two-bed home in Mesquite. Credit: AP

He lived in the property in Babbling Brook Court with Marilou Danley, 62, records show. Eric Paddock told CBS she was his brother's girlfriend and a nice woman who sent his mother cookies.

Described as 4ft 11ins and of Asian ethnicity, she was named initially as a person of interest by police.

But Sheriff Lombardo later said she was out of the country at the time and they did not believe she was involved, although Paddock used some of her ID to get into the hotel, where he had been staying since September 28.