Update | Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock: millionaire retired accountant, high-stakes gambler, son of ‘psychopathic’ bank robber

Paddock, 64, had no criminal history and no known connection to Islamic State – but his father was a notorious and violent felon

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This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows his brother, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. Photo: AP

Published: 11:45pm, 2 Oct 2017Updated: 10:38pm, 3 Oct 2017

Stephen Craig Paddock, the retired accountant who smuggled an armoury’s worth of weapons into a swanky Las Vegas hotel and mowed down concertgoers from a 32nd storey window, was a wealthy high-stakes gambler.

The 64-year-old was a multimillionaire who owned two planes and a home in a tranquil golf course retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, 130km east of the gambling hub. According to a brother, he showed no sign he was poised to commit mass murder. But he had a link to notoriety – his father was a notorious bank robber, once on the FBI’s “10 most wanted” list and described as a psychopath.

Islamic State said the worst mass shooting in recent US history was perpetrated by one of its “soldiers”, claiming Paddock had converted to Islam in recent weeks and carried out the attack in its name.

But the FBI said it saw “no connection” between Paddock and international terror groups, and a stunned nation remained at a loss to understand the motive for the Sunday night massacre, which left 59 people dead and more than 500 injured.

Watch: who was the Las Vegas gunman?

Paddock was found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, before a police Swat team burst into his room in the Mandalay Hotel, one of Las Vegas’ most recognisable landmarks.

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