4 dead in shooting at Waffle House in Nashville
Suspect fled after customer wrestled rifle away from him
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A nearly naked gunman wearing only a green jacket and brandishing an assault rifle stormed a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville early Sunday, 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, shedding 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 said, because he was known to have owned a handgun that authorities haven’t recovered.
The AR-15 used in the shooting and the handgun were among four firearms that authorities took from Reinking after U.S. Secret Service agents arrested him 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, later explaining he wanted to meet President Donald Trump.
State police in Illinois, where Reinking lived until last fall, revoked his state firearms card at the request of the FBI and the four guns were taken from him, authorities said. Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said the guns were returned to his father, who told authorities Sunday he had given the weapons to his son.
Authorities hailed the customer who intervened to stop a further bloodbath, 29-year-old James Shaw, Jr., as a hero — though the father of a 4-year-old girl demurred and said he was just trying to survive.
Shaw told reporters he first thought the gunshots fired around 3:25 a.m. were plates falling from a dishwashing station.
He said that, when he realized what was happening, he took cover behind a door as shots shattered windows. The gun either jammed or needed a new clip, and that is when Shaw said he pounced after deciding that “he was going to have to work to kill me.”
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 ran away into the dark.
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 seen in pants after apparently returning to his apartment.
Another witness, Chuck Cordero, said 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.
Aaron said Reinking lived near the restaurant, and police used yellow crime scene tape to block public access to an apartment complex about a half-mile from the Waffle House. Reinking is originally from Morton, Ill.