ORLANDO, Fla. – "There is nothing," over and over Eric Paddock repeated Monday morning struggling to describe how his 64-year-old brother, Stephen Paddock, could be responsible for the mass shooting in Las Vegas where more than 50 are dead and hundreds more injured.
Eric Paddock, of Orlando, found out about the shooting and his brother's role just after 1 a.m. EST.
"All five of my phones in the house lit up at the same time," Paddock said. It was Las Vegas police contacting the family for information on Stephen. The family is cooperating with police, but Eric Paddock said his brother's life was an "open book" and he has no clue as to why this happened.
Officials said Stephen Paddock opened fire on country concertgoers on the Las Vegas strip just after 10 p.m. He shot himself before officers entered his Mandalay Bay hotel room, according to Las Vegas police.
Inside his room, authorities found a cache of weapons, including 10 rifles, Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.
Eric Paddock said he was equally shocked by the type of weapons found in the hotel room.
“Not an avid gun guy at all," he said of his brother. "The fact that he had these kind of weapons is ... where the hell did he get automatic weapons?"
"He has no military background or anything like that. He is a guy who lives in a house in Mesquite, who drove down and gambled in Las Vegas. He did stuff, ate burritos."
Eric helped Stephen move from his home in Viera, Fla. back to Mesquite, Nevada a few years ago, which is why he was shocked about the weapons. Eric Paddock said Stephen had a few handguns, maybe one long gun, but that they were kept in a safe.
Eric said Stephen was a multimillionaire who made much of his money investing in real estate.
He told reporters Monday in Orlando that his brother was also an accountant for many years.
He was not aware of his brother having any recent financial difficulties.
Stephen Paddock recently sent a walker by mail to his 90-year-old mother.
The brother said the shooter collected coins when he was a child.
The gunman's former Brevard County neighbor told News 6 that Paddock said he was a professional gambler and made money off of home price speculation.
“He was very, very friendly,” she said. “He told us he lived in Las Vegas and said he had a place in Texas and California.”
Eric Paddock said that to his knowledge his brother has no history of crime, mental illness.
Get more on this story at ClickOrlando.com.
The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
