On October 1st, 64 year old Stephen Paddock went on a killing spree at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. He opened fired on those attending the concert, wounding 546 people and killing 58. The shooting lasted around 10 minutes, occurring between 10:05 and 10:15 P.M. He shot hundreds of rifle rounds from his suite deck overlooking the concert at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Paddock was found dead in his hotel room about an hour after the last shot occurred, and he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It is now considered the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in America, beating the Orlando night club shooting, which killed 49 and injured 58, which had only occurred a little over a year earlier.

Unfortunately, we do not know Paddock’s motivation for his killing spree, and we do not know much of his background story. What we do know is that his family has had a history of crime. Stephen’s father was bank robber Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, who was arrested in 1960; Stephen was only 7. Ben Paddock was later convicted, and escaped from prison. This subsequently landed himself on the most wanted list in 1969, when Stephen was just 15.

Paddock had had a generally successful career, having well-paying jobs with the government and in real estate, but he was also an avid gambler. Although he was not a high-stakes gambler, he did a lot of gambling across Las Vegas.

As stated earlier, Paddock’s motivation for the killings is still unknown, but ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. Yet, it is still possible that it was not an act of terrorism because Paddock’s brother stated that he had no religious or political affiliations.

As for the public’s response to the horrible event, people have been doing as much as they can. Blood donation lines for the victims have been stretching for blocks, and many people have donated money to various programs that aid the victims (Go Fund Me pages, fundraisers organized by celebrities, etc.).

The event has also brought more attention to the issue of gun control. President Trump, for example, has made comments in the past on his stance on gun control. He has said that “We have a huge mental health problem in this country. We’re closing hospitals, we’re closing wards, we’re closing so many because the states want to save money. We have to get back into looking at what’s causing it. The guns don’t pull the trigger. It’s the people that pull the trigger…” Mr. Trump has also said that there should be no limit on the sales of guns, and that we should “respect the second amendment.” Yet, even after his strong defense of gun control throughout his campaign and the start of his term, Trump has had to admit that the government must discuss gun laws due to the harrowing attack on the concertgoers. He has said that “…we’ll [the government] be talking about gun laws as time goes on.”

There is still much to be learned about Stephen Paddock and his motivations, as well as whether or not they were associated with ISIS. But, for now, all that we can do is spread the word of the event, try to protect ourselves, and do what we can to support the victims and their families. To find out more information on donating money to help, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/dr2ks2-las-vegas-victims-fund. This is a verified Go Fund Me page, started by Steve Sisolak (the Clark County Commission Chair of Las Vegas), that has raised over 10 million dollars with a 15 million dollar goal.