The Southland Times

Diner, gunman curse each other

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UNITED STATES: A nearly naked gunman wearing only a green jacket and brandishin­g an assault rifle stormed a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville yesterday, shooting four people to death before a customer rushed him and wrestled the weapon away.

Authoritie­s were searching for the 29-year-old suspect, Travis Reinking, who they said drove to the busy restaurant and killed two people in the parking lot before entering and continuing to fire. When his AR-15 rifle either jammed or the clip was empty, the customer disarmed him in a scuffle.

Four people were also wounded before the gunman fled, throwing off his jacket.

Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said there was no clear motive, though Reinking may have ‘‘mental issues.’’ He may still be armed, Anderson told a midafterno­on news conference, because he was known to have owned a handgun that authoritie­s have not recovered.

US Secret Service agents arrested Reinking last July for being in a restricted area near the White House, officials said. Special Agent Todd Hudson said Reinking was detained after refusing to leave the restricted area, saying he wanted to meet President Donald Trump.

State police in Illinois, where Reinking lived until last fall, subsequent­ly revoked his state firearms card at the request of the FBI and four guns were then taken from him, including the AR-15 used in yesterday’s shooting as well as a handgun, authoritie­s said.

Sheriff Robert Huston in Tazewell County, Illinois, said deputies allowed Reinking’s father to take possession of the guns on the promise that he would ‘‘keep the weapons secure and out of the possession of Travis’’. Huston added that, based on past deputies’ encounters with Reinking, ‘‘there’s certainly evidence that there’s some sort of mental health issues involved’’.

While Huston said it was unclear how Reinking reclaimed the guns, Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said that his father ‘‘has now acknowledg­ed giving them back to his son’’.

Phone calls to a number listed for the father, Jeffrey Reinking, went unanswered.

Meanwhile, authoritie­s hailed the customer who intervened to stop a further bloodbath, 29-yearold James Shaw, Jr., as a hero — though the father of a 4-year-old girl demurred and said he was just trying to survive.

One hand bandaged, Shaw told reporters he first thought the gunshots were plates falling from a dishwashin­g station.

When he realised what was happening, he took cover behind a door as shots shattered windows. The gun either jammed or needed a new clip, and that’s when Shaw said he pounced after making up his mind that ‘‘he was going to have to work to kill me’’.

Shaw said he was not a religious man, but ‘‘for a tenth of a second, something was with me to run through that door and get the gun from him’’.

They cursed at each other as they scuffled, Shaw said, and he was able to grab the gun and toss it over a counter. The gunman then ran away into the dark of the working and middle-class Antioch neighbourh­ood of southeast Nashville.

Authoritie­s said he shed his jacket nearby and police found two AR-15 magazines loaded with bullets in the pockets. He was seen walking, naked, on a road, officials said, but later was spotted wearing pants but no shirt after apparently returning to his apartment.

Another witness, Chuck Cordero, told The Tennessean newspaper he had stopped to get a cup of coffee and was outside the Waffle House when the chaos unfolded.

‘‘He did not say anything,’’ Cordero said of the gunman, who he described as ‘‘all business.’’

Cordero said Shaw saved lives. ‘‘There was plenty more people in that restaurant,’’ he said.

The dead were identified as 29-year-old restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, and restaurant patrons Joe R. Perez, 20, Akilah Dasilva, 23, and Deebony Groves, 21.

Aaron, the police spokesman, said two of the wounded were being treated for gunshot wounds at the medical centre, where spokeswoma­n Jennifer Wetzel said one was in critical condition and the other was in critical but stable condition.

TriStar Southern Hills Medical Centre spokeswoma­n Katie Radel in Nashville said two people were treated for minor injuries and released.

Aaron said Reinking had been employed in constructi­on and lived near the restaurant, and police used yellow crime scene tape to block public access to an apartment complex about a halfmile from the Waffle House. Reinking is originally from Morton, Illinois.

Nashville Mayor David Briley described the shooting as ‘‘a tragic day’’ for the city.

‘‘My heart goes out to the families & friends of every person who was killed or wounded,’’ Briley said. ‘‘I know all of their lives will be forever changed by this devastatin­g crime.’’

US Rep. Jim Cooper, whose district includes Nashville, said in an emailed statement that the shooting shows the need for tighter restrictio­ns on ‘‘widespread civilian access to military-grade assault weapons.’’

Nashville Chief Anderson said there was no Tennessee law that would have barred Reinking from having guns, though weapons could be taken away if the suspect had serious mental health issues. That would require taking him to court and having his rights taken away because of illness, a sometimes lengthy and difficult process, Anderson said.

Police reports filed in Illinois showed past run-ins with authoritie­s there. – AP

 ??  ?? Travis Reinking
Travis Reinking

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