- Stephen Paddock, a 53-year-old from New Brunswick, shares name with shooter
- A user on 4chan shared a link to his Instagram account after Sunday’s atrocity
- Over a thousand people then commented during a ‘vulgar riot’ on his profile
A Canadian man who shares his name with Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock has spoken of being flooded with abusive message after trolls circulated links to his accounts.
New Brunswick-based Stephen Paddock, 53, created a new Instagram account on Saturday and uploaded a photograph of himself as his first post.
When his American namesake murdered 58 people and wounded over 500 in Vegas the following night, his account was soon found.
New Brunswick-based Stephen Paddock, 53, created a new Instagram account on Saturday and uploaded a photograph of himself as his first post. But after he was confused with the Vegas shooter, he was inundated with messages
Speaking to The Daily Gleaner, Mr Paddock said he was ‘taken aback’ after over a thousands people commented on his profile.
He added: ‘Even after the [shooter] was dead, the [comments] kept coming through.
‘It was a vulgar riot.’
It is believed the account was first found by a user on 4chan’s notorious ‘Politically Incorrect’ image board.
Trolls on the site and elsewhere are then thought to have distributed a link to his profile in the aftermath of the bloodbath in Nevada.
The American Stephen Paddock, who killed 58, plus himself, and injured 527 others in Las Vegas on Sunday
Mourners pay tribute at a makeshift memorial consisting of dozens of candles on the Las Vegas Strip
Mr Paddock said he awoke on Monday morning to a surprising tranche of messages on his phone.
And despite most of the posts to his account being negative or abusive, he said that about a fifth were positive.
He explained: ‘The people that took the time to find me on Facebook were the…people that were wishing me well,’ he explained. ‘I would say about 20 per cent of the people were compassionate and knew right away… There’s hope for humanity.’