The death count for the horrific Las Vegas shooting is up to 59, with injuries totaling 527. It is the worst mass shooting to take place in America during the last century, and we"re all sill reeling from it.
Aside from the victims and their families, no one could be more deeply affected than the family of the shooter, Stephen Paddock.
His brother, Eric, has now given a second, bewildered interview. He rambles, he cries, and generally demonstrates that the worst week of your life is also the worst time to give an interview.
The level-headed decision for someone of means to do when they find themselves in Eric Paddock"s situation is to hire a short-term representative, be it an attorney or even just a well-spoken family friend.
When you are distraught, any statements should be made in writing until you"re confident that you can give a solid interview and stay on topic.
Unfortunately, it"s difficult if not impossible to make level-headed decisions when your entire world has just been rocked.
What we know about Stephen Paddock is still limited, but though he fits parts of the profile of mass shooters — he"s a white male — it"s not immediately apparent what motivated his shooting.
In one of Eric"s more erratic statements in the video below, he says:
"When Steve can do this, we"re just in deep s–t. Because there"s just nothing there."
What he means, of course, is that this came out of nowhere without any obvious warning signs.
We"d be quick to point out, as others have, that Stephen Paddock wasn"t a "nice guy" who suddenly snapped.
A barista recognized him immediately because he would berate and publicly humiliate his live-in girlfriend when they"d come in.
(He would reportedly shame her for asking if he was getting her drink by reminding her that he pays for everything in her life)
It was apparently such a standard part of his behavior that employees dreaded seeing him with her.
Stephen Paddock may have not have had as many red flags as we usually expect, but he was a man who publicly berated his girlfriend and stockpiled weapons.
That"s not out of nowhere.
Contrary to what some people seem to think, however, it"s understandable that Eric didn"t see the potential for this in his own brother.
For one thing, Eric Paddock lives on the East Coast, while Stephen reveled in Vegas.
Eric speaks at length in the longer interview about trying to make time for his own son to see his Uncle Steve from time to time but not always getting the chance.
(When he would visit, Eric says that Steve was extremely generous, though often his generosity was on the dime of hotels at which he gambled)
But the biggest reason is that Stephen Paddock almost certainly hid everything from his family.
He probably didn"t humiliate his girlfriend in front of his family. He sounds like the kind of guy who wanted to show off his lifestyle to family.
Eric says that it was thanks to Stephen that their mother lives comfortably in her retirement.
He talks about how their father was terrible (their father was, in fact, FBI Most Wanted List levels of terrible) and left their mother to raise four children on a secretary"s salary.
He talks about Stephen"s wealth, his hopes that this can all be explained away by a brain tumor (not likely), and his general shock and dismay.
Unfortunately, Eric says none of these things particularly well.
His mood seems to shift, but this is the result of being in a state of shock and grief and having a bunch of people asking him questions for a half hour.
Eric does convey his deepest sympathies for Stephen"s victims, but he"s just as much at a loss to explain it — if not more — than we are.
"My heart is torn, is destroyed for all of these people. But I can"t tell you why Steve did what he did."
Here are some of his less coherent moments from the full interview:
