Las Vegas shooter has ties to Central Florida

MELBOURNE, Fla. – A 64-year-old man identified by authorities as the shooter who killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500 others in Las Vegas lived in Central Florida as late as 2015, according to property records.

Stephen Paddock lived in Viera from 2013 to 2015, records show. Lockheed Martin said in a statement that Paddock worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin from 1985 to 1988.

"We’re cooperating with authorities to answer questions they may have about Mr. Paddock and his time with the company," Lockheed Martin said.

News 6 is working to uncover more details about Paddock, who was found dead by Las Vegas police after the overnight shooting, the worst in U.S. history. The 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where 49 were slain, previously held the infamous distinction. 

Although Paddock lived in Brevard County, the sheriff's office said it never had any interaction with him.

“According to our records, we have had no contact with him,” Brevard County sheriff's spokesman Tod Goodyear said.

Some family members of Paddock live in Orlando.

"We are completely dumbfounded," Eric Paddock, the brother of Stephen Paddock said. "We can't understand what happened.

Eric Paddock also said that he has already made a statement to police. [Watch the full interview with the gunman's brother here]

Nicole Paddock, Stephen Paddock's niece who lives in east Orlando, told News 6 reporter Mark Lehman that she learned about the shooting as she woke up. She said she was "shocked and disturbed" to learn that her uncle was named as the shooter. She said she was not prepared to make a full statement. It's unclear if she's been contacted by police.

"We are thinking of all of those affected by the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said in a statement. "This community, and the men and women of OPD, know all too well the anguish that is gripping the residents, visitors and law enforcement community in Las Vegas. We grieve with the people of Las Vegas, and stand firmly with our brothers and sisters in law enforcement who are dealing with this tragedy. Our condolences and prayers go out to the families of all those affectd, and we grieve with LVMPD, who lost an off-duty officer who was attending the concert and was shot and killed."

"My heart is breaking for Las Vegas," Pulse survivor Bandon Wolf tweeted. "I know this feeling all too well. Our Pulse family is with you."

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters that police responded after reports of shots being fired from the Mandalay Bay toward the Route 91 Harvest festival around 10:08 p.m. Sunday local time.

"We determined there was a shooter on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay," Lombardo said.

Officers engaged the suspect, but Lombardo said it's believed Paddock killed himself before police made entry.

"Right now, we believe it's a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor," said Lombardo.

Authorities said families looking to locate missing loved ones can call 866-535-5654.

Concertgoers describe shooting

Three people who were attending the concert at the Las Vegas Village outdoor arena when gunfire broke out described hearing the sound of gunfire while country music star Jason Aldean was performing.

Aldean, his wife Brittany, his band and crew were able to get offstage safely and unharmed.

"We were close to the stages -- about six rows from the front on the left-hand side, and he was just performing," Rachel Dekerf said.

"People went down on the Mandalay side of the stage," Joe Pitzel said. "I don't know if people were ducking or if people were hit."

Derkef filmed her escape from the venue using her cellphone, starting just after the first shots were fired.

She described ongoing gunfire and played out the video she had recorded during which more than five minutes of gunfire were intermittently audible.

"The gunshots lasted for 10-15 minutes. It didn't stop," she said. "We just ran for our lives."

'Sounded like firecrackers'

Eyewitness Bryan Heifner spoke to CNN from a room in a hotel across from the Mandalay Bay, which he said he could see from his window.

"Mostly I heard the shots, just so many shots -- I just thought it was a semi braking with the air brakes, but then I went downstairs and saw people running and looking for family," he said.

"I immediately went back to my room, locked the door, turned the lights off."

Another witness told CNN affiliate KSNV-TV that the shooting sounded like firecrackers at first.

"It didn't sound normal, it sounded like machine guns and it was like several rounds, it was like hundreds of rounds," she told the news station.

"My boyfriend had me move behind a building here because it just didn't sound right," she told KSNV. "And then we hid behind a building and we could just hear hundreds of rounds going off and then about 10 minutes later the police came and just blocked off all the streets."

She said she was about a block from the Route 91 Harvest festival.

Worst mass shootings in US history

Here is a list of the 10 deadliest single-day mass shootings in U.S. history from 1949 to the present. (If the shooter was killed or committed suicide during the incident, that death is not included in the total.)

The Harvest Music Festival At least 50 killed

Oct. 1, 2017 - A gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, on a crowd of 30,000 gathered on the Las Vegas Strip for the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured. Officers killed the gunman.

Pulse nightclub 49 killed

June 12, 2016 - Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando. At least 49 people are killed and more than 50 are injured. Police shoot and kill Mateen during an operation to free hostages officials say he was holding at the club.

Virginia Tech 32 killed

April 16, 2007 - A gunman, 23-year-old student Seung-Hui Cho, goes on a shooting spree killing 32 people in two locations and wounding an undetermined number of others on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The shooter then commits suicide.

Sandy Hook 27 killed

Dec. 14, 2012 - Adam Lanza, 20, guns down 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults, school staff and faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. -- before turning the gun on himself. Investigating police later find Nancy Lanza, Adam's mother, dead from a gunshot wound.

Luby's Cafeteria 23 killed

Oct. 16, 1991 - In Killeen, Texas, 35-year-old George Hennard crashes his pickup truck through the wall of a Luby's Cafeteria. After exiting the truck, Hennard shoots and kills 23 people. He then commits suicide.

McDonald's in San Ysidro 21 killed

July 18, 1984 - In San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Huberty, armed with a long-barreled Uzi, a pump-action shotgun and a handgun, shoots and kills 21 adults and children at a local McDonald's. A police sharp shooter kills Huberty one hour after the rampage begins.

University of Texas 18 killed

Aug. 1, 1966 - In Austin, Texas, Charles Joseph Whitman, a former U.S. Marine, kills 16 and wounds at least 30 while shooting from a University of Texas tower. Police officers Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy shoot and kill Whitman in the tower. Whitman had also killed his mother and wife earlier in the day.

San Bernardino 14 killed

Dec. 2, 2015 - Married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik open fire on an employee gathering taking place at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, killing 14 people.

Edmond, Oklahoma 14 killed

Aug. 20, 1986 - In Edmond, Oklahoma, part-time mail carrier Patrick Henry Sherrill, armed with three handguns, kills 14 postal workers in 10 minutes and then takes his own life with a bullet to the head.

Fort Hood 13 killed

Nov. 5, 2009 - Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan kills 13 people and injures 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, during a shooting rampage. He is convicted and sentenced to death.

There were several other incidents in which 13 people were killed:

April 3, 2009 - In Binghamton, New York, Jiverly Wong kills 13 people and injures four during a shooting at an immigrant community center. He then kills himself.

April 20, 1999 - Columbine High School - Littleton, Colorado. Eighteen-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold kill 12 fellow students and one teacher before committing suicide in the school library.

Feb. 18, 1983 - Three men enter the Wah Mee gambling and social club in Seattle, rob the 14 occupants and then shoot each in the head, killing 13. Two of the men, Kwan Fai Mak and Benjamin Ng, are convicted of murder in August 1983. Both are serving life in prison. The third, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, after years on the run in Canada, is eventually convicted of first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. He is deported to Hong Kong in 2014.

Sept. 25, 1982 - In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 40-year-old George Banks, a prison guard, kills 13 people including five of his own children. In September 2011, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturns his death sentence stating that Banks is mentally incompetent.

Sept. 5, 1949 - In Camden, New Jersey, 28-year-old Howard Unruh, a veteran of World War II, shoots and kills 13 people as he walks down Camden's 32nd Street. His weapon of choice is a German-crafted Luger pistol. He is found insane and is committed to a state mental institution. He dies at the age of 88.