Even years after the neon lights of the Strip were momentarily dimmed by tragedy, people still find themselves typing a specific phrase into search bars: las vegas shooter name.
It’s Stephen Paddock.
That name, once synonymous with a quiet, high-stakes gambler, became the center of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history on October 1, 2017. Honestly, the most jarring part of this whole thing isn't just the sheer scale of what happened at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. It’s the void where a motive should be. Usually, with these kinds of horrific events, there’s a manifesto or some screaming political grievance. Paddock left nothing.
He was 64. A retired accountant. A multi-millionaire real estate investor. By all accounts, he was basically the last person anyone expected to turn a 32nd-floor hotel suite into a sniper’s nest.
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The Man Behind the Las Vegas Shooter Name
Stephen Paddock wasn't some kid living in a basement. He was a wealthy man who spent his days playing $100-a-hand video poker. He was a "whale" in the casino world, the kind of guy who got free suites and private elevators because he moved so much money through the machines.
He lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. You’ve probably seen the photos: a beige house, manicured lawn, totally unremarkable. His brother, Eric Paddock, famously described the news as "an asteroid falling out of the sky." To his family, he was just a guy who sent cookies to his mom and liked to gamble.
But there was a darker lineage.
Paddock’s father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a notorious bank robber who once sat on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. The FBI actually described the elder Paddock as "psychotic" and "suicidal." While Stephen didn't have a criminal record, investigators later wondered if that "criminal DNA" played some role in his meticulous, cold-blooded planning.
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Was there a secret motive?
The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit spent over a year digging through his life. They looked at his 20 cruise ship voyages. They interviewed his girlfriend, Marilou Danley. They looked at his 55 firearm purchases made in a single year.
The result? Nothing concrete.
They basically concluded that he wanted "infamy." His physical and mental health were declining, and his wealth had taken a massive hit—dropping from $2 million in 2015 to around $500,000 by 2017. Some documents released in 2023 suggested he was angry at how casinos were treating high rollers, but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) largely dismissed that as the "sole" reason. It’s more likely it was a "perfect storm" of a bored, narcissistic man wanting to go out with a bang.
Breaking Down the Mandalay Bay Perch
When people look up the las vegas shooter name, they often want to know how one person did so much damage.
It was mechanical.
Paddock used hammers to smash two heavy windows in his suite at the Mandalay Bay. He had 23 rifles in that room. Many were outfitted with bump stocks, which allowed them to fire at a rate similar to fully automatic weapons. He didn't just fire randomly; he had calculated the distance and bullet drop on a notepad.
He fired over 1,000 rounds.
It lasted ten minutes.
Ten minutes that changed Nevada law, hospitality security, and the lives of thousands. Because Paddock killed himself before the SWAT team breached the door, he never had to answer for it. He left a room full of guns, a camera he'd set up in the hallway to watch for cops, and a total lack of explanation.
Why We Still Talk About Him
Misinformation thrives in a vacuum. Because there was no "why," conspiracy theories filled the gap. You've probably heard them: there were multiple shooters, it was an Antifa plot, or it was a government cover-up.
The evidence says otherwise.
DNA tests, ballistics, and thousands of hours of CCTV footage all point back to one person. The frustration comes from the fact that we like stories with clear endings. We want a villain with a clear "reason" so we can feel safe by avoiding people with that same reason. With Paddock, the "reason" was just a deep, quiet rot that no one noticed until it was too late.
Lessons for the future
Since that night, the world has changed.
- Bump Stock Bans: The devices Paddock used faced intense legal scrutiny and federal bans (though these have faced challenges in the Supreme Court).
- Hotel Security: "Do Not Disturb" signs no longer mean staff won't enter your room for days. Most Vegas hotels now require a wellness check every 24 hours.
- Event Planning: Open-air venues now have to account for "high-ground" threats, something that wasn't a priority before 2017.
If you’re researching this to understand the "type" of person who commits these acts, the answer is uncomfortable. He was a neighbor. He was a brother. He was a guy who paid his taxes and liked video poker.
To stay informed on how public safety has evolved since this event, you can review the final reports from the LVMPD and the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. These documents provide the most granular, evidence-based look at the timeline and the shooter's history without the filter of internet rumors.