Las Vegas shooting suspect's father was once one of FBI's Most Wanted

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Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Vegas shooting suspect's dad was once FBI's Most Wanted
Police say the Las Vegas gunman's father was on the FBI's most wanted.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KTRK) -- Stephen Paddock, the suspected shooter in the attack on concertgoers in Las Vegas on Sunday that killed at least 58 and injured at least 515, was the son of a famous criminal.

His estranged father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a notorious bank robber who spent years as one of the country's most wanted fugitives.

According to the Tucson Daily Citizen, the elder Paddock, also known as "Chromedome," "Old Baldy," and "Big Daddy," was arrested in 1961 and accused of robbing more than $20,000 from several branches of Valley National Bank in Phoenix.

While he was being arrested in Las Vegas, the newspaper reported, Paddock "attempted to run down an FBI agent with his car."

He escaped from prison, however, while serving a 20-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in La Tuna, Tex., which landed him on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitive" list.

A wanted poster circulated in 1969 described the elder Paddock as a "very dangerous" criminal.

"Diagnosed as psychopathic," the description reads. "Has carried firearms in commission of bank robberies. He reportedly has suicidal tendencies and should be considered armed and very dangerous."

He was removed from the list in 1977 and captured the following year in Oregon, where he was running a bingo parlor under the alias Bruce W. Ericksen.

Stephen's brother Eric confirmed his father's identity and criminal history to ABC News, though he said the brothers "didn't know him" and he died several years ago.

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