US: Daesh's claim false, Vegas suspect's brother says

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

Daesh's claim that the suspect in one of the U.S.'s worst mass shootings operated on its behalf is completely without merit, the alleged shooter’s brother said Monday.

The terror group Monday claimed via its Amaq news agency that Stephen Paddock was one of its "soldiers" without providing any evidence. In the past, Daesh has spuriously asserted attacks were carried out on its behalf.

Eric Paddock told reporters in Orlando, Florida, his brother "had nothing to do with any political organization, religious organization, no white supremacists -- nothing, as far as I know."

The FBI said it has no indication the attack was linked to an international terrorist group.

Eric Paddock also confirmed his estranged father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a bank robber who was on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list after he escaped from a federal penitentiary.

The elder Paddock was removed from the Top 10 list in 1977 after the FBI determined "he no longer fit the 'Top Ten' criteria", according to the bureau's website.

At least 59 people were killed and nearly 530 others wounded when Stephen Paddock allegedly opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas from a nearby hotel high rise.

Authorities in the state of Nevada said Paddock opened fire late Sunday on more than 10,000 concert-goers at an outdoor venue across from the Mandalay Bay Hotel around 10.08 p.m. local time (0508GMT Monday), Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters.

Paddock reportedly killed himself as police moved in on the 32nd floor hotel room he was using to shoot down on the crowd.

Lombardo said the 64-year-old suspect is a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, and made no references to terrorism, instead calling the shooting a "lone wolf" attack.

Authorities retrieved 18 firearms, explosives and "several thousand rounds of ammo", Lombardo told reporters.

At least two off-duty police officers are believed to be among those slain, according to media reports.

*Canberk Yuksel contributed to this report from New York