--- description: A salesman at Dixie Gun Worx told TIME he believed the shooter was "just a normal person" when he interacted with him earlier in 2017 title: Salesman at Shop That Sold Gun to Vegas Shooting Suspect: 'He Was Just Like a Normal Person' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae0e41d4fcf93985/6988e03c196cf4314904226e/las-vegas-shooting-suspect.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [las vegas shooting](/tag/las-vegas-shooting/) ## las vegas shooting Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Salesman at Shop That Sold Gun to Vegas Shooting Suspect: 'He Was Just Like a Normal Person' by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2017 8:57 PM CUT  Police form a perimeter around the road leading to the Mandalay Hotel (background) after a gunman killed at least 58 people and wounded. Police form a perimeter around the road leading to the Mandalay Hotel (background) after a gunman killed at least 58 people and wounded.MARK RALSTON—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 2, 2017 8:57 PM CUT An employee at a Utah gun shop that claims to have sold a firearm to the shooter in the [Las Vegas massacre that left 58 dead and over 500 wounded](http://time.com/4965496/las-vegas-shooting-sonny-melton-heather-gulish-melton/ "undefined") said he did not get any “bad vibes” from Stephen Paddock when they interacted. Loren Michel, a salesman at Dixie Gun Worx in St. George, Utah, about 45 miles from where Paddock lived in Mesquite, Nevada told TIME on Monday that Paddock had visited the store twice before he purchased a shotgun in February 2017. “There was nothing that really stood out with him,” says Michel. “He was just like a normal person that comes into a gun shop that’s looking to buy. He was saying that he wanted something for home defense.” Michel says on two separate occasions Paddock visited Dixie Gun Worx, which his owned by his son, Chris, where he “he looked around, we talked, showed him what we had.” On the third visit in February, Paddock purchased a firearm. Michel offered no specifics about the weapon other than to say it was a shotgun. In an interview with the [Salt Lake ](http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/10/02/st-george-gun-store-owner-says-he-recently-sold-a-shotgun-to-las-vegas-shooter/ "undefined")_Tribune,_ Chris Michel said he was overcome with “shock, horror, and grief” for the victims when he learned of the Las Vegas shooting on Monday morning. “Then I recognized him, and my gut dropped out from underneath me,” he said. Paddock is believed to fired upon a crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, according to authorities. Loren Michel told TIME that his son ran a background check on Paddock via the Bureau of Investigation and he does not recall any issues. “He passed the criminal background check with no problem at all,” Michel says. “It went right through.” Chris told [ABC4 Utah](http://www.good4utah.com/news/southern-utah/local-gun-shop-owner-remembers-selling-a-gun-to-las-vegas-suspect/822849902 "undefined") that he tries to get to know their customers and collect information on them out of precaution, but said Paddock did not set off any “alarms.” When talking to TIME, Loren said the same. ” I didn’t get no bad vibes off of him, you know?” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4965962/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-gun-shop-owner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4965962/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-gun-shop-owner/"},"headline":"Salesman at Shop That Sold Gun to Vegas Shooting Suspect: 'He Was Just Like a Normal Person'","datePublished":"2017-10-02T20:57:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:41:49.860Z","description":"A salesman at Dixie Gun Worx told TIME he believed the shooter was \"just a normal person\" when he interacted with him earlier in 2017","url":"https://time.com/4965962/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-gun-shop-owner/","keywords":["las vegas shooting","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae0e41d4fcf93985/6988e03c196cf4314904226e/las-vegas-shooting-suspect.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae0e41d4fcf93985/6988e03c196cf4314904226e/las-vegas-shooting-suspect.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-CRIME-SHOOTING","caption":"US-CRIME-SHOOTING","creditText":"MARK RALSTON—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/las-vegas-shooting/","name":"las vegas shooting"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4965962/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-gun-shop-owner/","name":"Salesman at Shop That Sold Gun to Vegas Shooting Suspect: 'He Was Just Like a Normal Person'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Las Vegas Suspect Stephen Paddock’s Family Is 'Completely Dumbfounded' by Mass Shooting","description":"The brother of Stephen Paddock, the suspected gunman behind a mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival, said Monday that his family was stunned by the incident.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qpmDcoBJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-10-02T15:28:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qpmDcoBJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4965962/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-gun-shop-owner/","duration":"PT51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4965962/las-vegas-shooting-suspect-gun-shop-owner/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```