Las Vegas Gunman Grew Up In LA, Attended Cal State Northridge
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) – Cal State Northridge officials confirmed Tuesday that Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, attended the university in the 1970s.
According to CSUN, Paddock "attended the university, completing a degree in Business Administration in 1977."
After learning of the connection, university officials say "CSUN's chief of police was contacted, and university officials shared this information with investigators in Las Vegas."
"While no words can truly express the loss and sadness the nation feels today, the CSUN community offers its profound sympathies to those affected by the heinous violence that occurred in Las Vegas," according to the university.
Paddock attended Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, graduating in 1971, and previously attended Richard Byrd Middle School.
Former Los Angeles City Councilman and state Sen. Richard Alarcon told the Los Angeles Daily News he knew Paddock while growing up and recognized his face when his picture was released after Sunday's shooting.
"I just recognized his face, his hair color, his eyes," Alarcon said. "He always had big eyes when he was a kid. The face was recognizable."
"He was an average kid, very pleasant," he told the paper. "He wasn't overbearing. ... He didn't have the most outspoken personality. We're talking about when we were 8 to 12 years old. He was just an average, American kid."
CBS2/KCAL9 spoke with Alarcon, who also described Alarcon as "sort of geeky" and "a little bit cynical."
"He had a great sense of humor in high school," he said.
The 64-year-old Paddock showed up at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino with at least 10 suitcases filled with guns and opened fire Sunday night from his 32nd floor suite on a country music festival, killing 59 people and injuring nearly 530.
Some of the guns found in the hotel room had been set up on tripods. Paddock killed himself in the hotel room before authorities arrived.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
