Hero who tackled Waffle House shooter
Hero risks life as 'naked' man with AR-15 kills 4 at Tenn. eatery
A half-naked gunman killed four people at a Nashville-area Waffle House with an assault rifle Sunday before a heroic patron wrested the weapon away as the attacker stopped to reload.
Travis Reinking — who was busted last year trying to storm his way into the White House — wore a green jacket and was nude below the waist as he fired at customers at 3:25 a.m. inside the restaurant in Antioch, Tenn., officials said.
The rampage, which also wounded four other people, was halted only when diner James Shaw Jr., 29, stepped in to disarm Reinking, who escaped and was on the lam Sunday night.
“I figured if I was going to die, he was going to have to work for it,” Shaw said at a Sunday afternoon press conference.
As the 29-year-old Reinking was between magazines on his AR-15, Shaw used the swinging door he was hiding behind to slam the shooter, then grabbed the freshly fired assault rifle by its searing-hot barrel.
Although he was badly burned on his right hand, Shaw said he didn’t notice the pain.
“It was life or death at that time,” said Shaw, who was also grazed by a bullet near his elbow and cut his other hand on shattered glass. “I didn’t even feel it.”
Shaw, an AT&T worker with a 4-year-old daughter, tossed the weapon over the restaurant’s counter, then wrestled Reinking out into the parking lot.
The shooter managed to free himself and escape, leaving his car behind at the murder scene.
Shaw soon lost sight of Reinking, setting off a manhunt that continued into Sunday evening, leaving Nashville on edge.
Reinking was later sighted by neighbors at his apartment complex. His green bomber jacket was found about a block from the Waffle House, leading police to believe he made his way home entirely nude.
Two full AR-15 magazines were found in the jacket’s pockets, said Metropolitan Nashville Po- lice spokesman Don Aaron.
“He clearly came armed with a lot of firepower, intending to devastate the South Nashville area,” Aaron said.
He apparently went home and changed. A neighbor who spotted him near the apartment complex said Reinking was wearing pants but no shirt and heading toward a wooded area, according to cops.
As police helicopters circled overhead and dogs tracked Reinking until they lost the scent, investigators sent a robot into his one-bedroom apartment to sweep for bombs, Aaron said. None was found.
Police also didn’t find two of the four guns registered to Reinking, leading police to believe he may still be armed.
In July 2017, Reinking was arrested by the Secret Service for breaching the White House’s security perimeter, officials said. He said he was trying to set up a meeting with President Trump.
As a result of that incident, Reinking had to surrender his four legally purchased guns to authorities.
Officials said Sunday that the guns were returned after some time to Reinking’s father, who had apparently returned them to his son.
The four dead were identified by Nashville cops as Taurean Sanderlin, a 29-year-old Waffle House worker; Joe Perez, 20; Akilah DaSilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21.
The four injured victims were at area hospitals. Two were in critical condition.