Casino workers in Las Vegas say mass shooter Stephen Paddock was actually far from the quiet loner he was originally made out to be.
In fact, he was a demanding gambler who loved “comps” – complimentary items like rooms and food given as rewards for spending lots of money at Vegas casinos – and whose bizarre aversion to dust and allergens forced casino workers to wash any carpeted surface with plain water before he arrived.
The latest reports show Paddock likely lived something of a double life, running a successful real estate business while quietly stockpiling more than 30 weapons, some of them highly customized or hard to find, as well as tens of pounds of explosive materials, and various “electronic devices.” According to neighbors he kept a “low profile” and never let on that he was planning a horrifying attack that would leave more than 50 dead and nearly 500 wounded.
But according to Daily Wire sources in Las Vegas, and various media reports, casino hosts, who handle requests from high-dollar gamblers, knew Paddock well, and found him demanding – in one case, so grabby, he was booted from a downtown Las Vegas casino.
The New York Times reports that Paddock spend thousands of dollars gambling, sitting at high-dollar video poker machines in high limit gambling salons, small private areas located off the main casino floor in most establishments, reserved for people looking to bet more than $100 per hand or spin of a slot machine. Casino workers reported that he would sit at a machine for hours, moving nothing but his fingers as he played round after round of video poker.
They also describe him as a “starer” and a “creeper,” often leering at other players endlessly, and stealing people’s machines the minute they got up to go to the bathroom or grab a drink.
He was by no means a “whale” or a million-dollar gambler, but he spent enough that various casinos reported his winnings to the Federal government and extended him six-figure lines of credit. A source close to MGM casinos says Paddock was a Platinum MLife member – the top tier of the casino company’s loyalty program – a designation you can’t earn unless you spend six figures inside MGM casinos.
He spent the comps he earned and when he didn’t get them, he could get rough. According to Vital Vegas, Paddock was “eight-sixed” at the El Cortez casino just before he went on his killing spree. He lost $12,000, got beligerent demanding a room and comps from the casino and got booted.
He also ran casino workers wild, trying to comply with his bizarre allergy-related quirks. According to the Daily Mail, Paddock required hotels to wash all carpeted areas with plain water before he’d stay in a room, and he’d wear brown gloves around to make sure he didn’t come into contact with cleaning fluids or chemicals. He claimed to be “allergic to many pills,” and his brother, interviewed in the wake of the shooting, says he wouldn’t allow his girlfriend to wear makeup or perfume.
“The reason Mary Lou looks so plain in that picture they keep posting of her is because for him she would not wear perfumes or hair sprays or anything with scents in it because it affected him,” Paddock’s brother Eric wrote in a statement.
None of these facts give rise to a possible motive, however, and investigators still seem stumped as to why Paddock began his perhaps years-long quest to murder concert-goers.
