Inside the retirement community where America's deadliest killer plotted mayhem and murder

In the quiet retirement community north east of Las Vegas that was home to Stephen Paddock, there were plenty of questions – but very few answers.

As more details trickled out about Paddock and the staggering crime he had committed in the city 80 miles away, those who lived close to him could express little more than bewilderment and surprise.

The man who lived at Babbling Brook Court – the driveway to his modest home now blocked by bright yellow police tape – had set off no red flags, and done nothing to suggest he was capable of the murder he unleashed in such calculated fashion on Sunday.

That is not to say Paddock, who lived with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, was especially sociable or a regularly involved in community activities. Rather, since he bought the property two years ago, Paddock and Ms Danley lived quietly, making frequent trips into Las Vegas where both gambled and enjoyed doing so.

Such was the low profile Paddock appeared to have kept, one neighbour who lived just a few doors away said he struggled to recognise the man whose face overnight appeared on the front of newspapers around the world.

Standing in his driveway and looking out at Paddock’s home, Rod Sweningson said he knew the residents on either side of the property now being searched by police, but not Paddock himself.

“I look at his picture on the tube but it doesn’t ring a bell,” said Mr Sweningson. “He was reclusive.”