Disclaimer: This article is not intended to appear judgmental, but rather factual.
Let’s get a put a few things out there to start this off right. I refuse to call Stephen Paddock a “Shooter” as there are many gun owners who safely own and register their guns, use them for sport, hunting or self protection, and are good people. Calling him a “Shooter” often associates gun owners as horrible people. So let’s call him what he is, a murderer. By definition, it could be safely debated that he was a terrorist. As more comes to light about this motive, if the shoe fits, hopefully the media will start calling him by what he was.
Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded nearly 500 (full victim list) in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 1st 2017.
There is much debate on his motive. Let’s leave it as he was an individual consumed by evil.
What isn’t being talked about enough, in my opinion, is how this guy was raised.
Benjamin Hoskins Paddock (Stephen’s Father) was born in 1926.
Ben Paddock served in the navy in World War 2.
He went to prison in 1946 for stealing cars, and for some sort of illegal gambling set up. (The media is referring to it as a confidence game).
He fathered Stephen (The Las Vegas Murderer) in 1952 with his new wife in Reno.
In 1953 he was arrested and went to prison again, this time for running a fraudulent check (cheque) scheme.
He was released from prison in 1956 and the family moved to Arizona.
While now living in Arizona the family went by different names.
Benjamin set up a nightclub in Arizona called “Big Daddy’s”.
Between 1959 and 1960 robbed two banks and stole $25,000 using his family’s station wagon and a stolen car as the get away vehicle.
He was caught in Las Vegas by the FBI around that time and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
On New Year’s Eve in 1968 he escaped from prison and robbed another bank in San Francisco.
The FBI placed Ben Paddock on their Most Wanted List.
It was reported that Ben Paddock had major suicidal tendencies at that time.
After that point he was largely absent from all of his children’s lives.
His mother kept the story of him a secret for the most part.
Ben Paddock lived a life of fraudulent claims and criminal activity.
Stephen Paddock was relatively unknown to police, and became a wealthy gambler.
His brother however, Bruce Paddock has a long list of offenses including theft, threats, driving with a suspended license, contempt of court and arson.
The men’s rights movement regularly promotes the fact that children who live in fatherless homes, or without their father in their lives have a much higher chance of having mental health issues and ending up in jail. In this case, while I don’t agree with all of their positioning, I will point out that this is a clear case of these men missing something in their lives. Most likely a positive male role model.
You cannot claim that you can’t link poor parenting, and even more importantly in this context, poor decisions by fathers to their children growing up with serious issues.
How Ben Paddock acted before he became a father is one thing, but the fact that he continued to make extremely poor decisions afterwards is a clear indication that we have a lot of work to do in terms of men’s mental health awareness and social stigmas. Imagine if he had sought help…. What could have happened? What might not have happened?
Here at No Deadbeat Society we would like to offer sincere condolences to all of those affected by the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.