texas

Las Vegas Shooter's Father Was a Bank Robber Wanted by the FBI

While the 64-year-old gunman responsible for the deadly mass shooting at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a convicted bank robber who tried to run down an FBI agent in Las Vegas in 1960.

In 1968, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock escaped federal prison in Texas, which landed him on the FBI’s most wanted list, NBC News reported. He remained on the lam for nearly a decade, living under an assumed name in Oregon.

"Paddock is known as 'Chrome Dome' because of a practice of completely shaving his head," the FBI said.

"The agency reported he is an avid bridge player and smokes both cigars and cigarettes. They said he eats expensive steak dinners and is a frequent gambler," a June 11, 1969, article by the Arizona Republic read.

Investigators found him in 1978 after he attracted public attention for opening the state’s first licensed bingo parlor. He died in 1998.

Gunman Stephen Craig Paddock, the oldest of four children, was 7 when his father was arrested for bank robbery. Stephen Paddock killed himself in his 32nd floor hotel room Sunday, authorities said, after opening fire on a country music festival, killing at least 59 and injuring hundreds more.

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