

Paddock had lost a significant amount of his wealth over the previous two years, but had paid off all gambling debts before the shooting. He reportedly kept to himself and was a heavy drinker. He was a familiar figure to casino hosts in Las Vegas, but was not well known among other high-stakes gamblers because he mostly played single-player video poker. Paddock was a high-stakes gambler who placed bets at a high enough level to earn valuable comps-free benefits such as rooms and meals.

Paddock's only recorded interactions with law enforcement were traffic citations. He was a son of Benjamin Paddock, a bank robber who was on the FBI's most-wanted list between 19. He was twice divorced, had a long-term girlfriend, and had no known children. Stephen Paddock was a 64-year-old former auditor and real estate businessman who had been living 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Las Vegas in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada.


The 2017 festival ran from September 29 to October 1, with over 22,000 attendees on the final day. From 2014 onward, the venue hosted the annual Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Las Vegas Village, a 15-acre (6.1-hectare) lot used for outdoor performances, was located diagonally across the intersection to the northeast. The Strip is known for its concentration of casinos and resort hotels, including the 43-story Mandalay Bay southwest of its intersection with Mandalay Bay Road, in the unincorporated town of Paradise. The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard immediately south of the city of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada.
