(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock had apparently been having deranged dreams telling him to go on a killing spree in the leadup to the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting, according to newly unveiled documents.
The documents, which were obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, are reportedly handwritten letters Paddock’s acquaintance, Jim Nixon, had been sending him earlier in 2017.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has not published the letters, but reported last week that Nixon advised Paddock against going on a mass shooting.
“My friend it sounds like you are going to kill or murder someone or some people. Please whatever it is I would like to talk to you about it and we can discuss it,” Nixon reportedly told Paddock on June 1, 2017. “Please don’t go on any shooting rampage like some fool.”
Nixon also reportedly told Paddock to seek help for his dreams.
“You need to talk to someone who know how to deal with dreams. Don’t listen to what the damn dreams tell you. I will help you all I can,” he said.
Nixon, who was friends with Paddock from at least 2013, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that no one in law enforcement ever contacted him after the mass shooting.
The letters are the latest indication that Paddock had severe mental health issues before his involvement in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history—one that killed 60 people.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, there were reports that gunman Stephen Paddock had told people around him he was a “government experiment,” and would often lie in bed “moaning and screaming” in mental anguish.
There were also media reports from 2017 about Paddock being prescribed Diazepam, a sedative-hypnotic drug.
And last month, Headline USA broke a story about the FBI investigating rumors that Paddock had been a psych patient at Mesa View Hospital in Mesquite, Nevada.
However, little attention has been paid to Paddock’s mental health woes.
Even in the wake of the FBI’s recent disclosures, most media outlets have concentrated on records about a possible motive for his killing spree: some $38,000 in gambling losses—a dubious reason, considering that Paddock was reportedly a multimillionaire.
Neither the FBI nor local police have determined a motive for Paddock’s actions.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
