U.S. officials are still searching for a motive behind the worst mass shooting in the country's history that occurred on Sunday, when 64-year-old Nevada resident Stephen Paddock killed 59 people and injured 527 others.
An American megachurch Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, has meanwhile noted that at times such as this, many people question why God would allow so much evil, if He is both all good and all powerful.
The shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, who earlier said that his family was "dumbfounded" by the news of the shooting, which took place on the Las Vegas Strip, has since described him as a "multi-millionaire real estate investor" and a retired accountant, who was also a heavy gambler.
According to Sky News reports that the suspect lived in a two-bedroom house in the retirement desert community of Mesquite, and had a second home near Reno. Both homes were apparently worth more than $700,000 in total. Although police found 23 guns in his hotel room, as well as "in excess of" 19 firearms and explosives at his Nevada home, Eric Paddock has claimed that his brother was "not an avid gun guy at all and that his brother had no religious affiliation, no political affiliation" that he was aware of."
The brother further revealed that their father was Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a convict who remained on the FBI's most wanted list for eight years after escaping from prison in 1969, where he was serving a 20-year sentence for a string of robberies.
READ: Las Vegas Mass Shooter Identified By Police + Americans Asked To Pray
The Islamic State terror group separately claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday, describing him as one of their soldiers.The Islamist terror group provided no evidence for its claim, however, and the FBI has said that they have found no evidence that Paddock was linked to international terrorist groups. IS soldiers, on the other hand, are known to carry out suicide bombings or die in shootouts.
A professor of criminology at the University of Maryland, Laura Dugan, in an interview with Reuters said Paddock's age makes him a rare case when it comes to mass shooters.
"(It's a well known fact that) most shooters are fairly young. Right now with this particular case, it's baffling. Why would a guy in his 60s who seems to be well off go and do a thing like that?," the professor questioned.
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