Waffle House hero honors victims with emotional video

The man hailed a hero in a mass shooting at a Nashville-area Waffle House released a “mini-documentary” Tuesday morning — exactly one month after the attack that left four people dead.

James Shaw Jr. released the nearly four-minute video at 3:25 a.m. on YouTube.

The video is set to the Drake song “God’s Plan” and the words “What we do in life echoes in eternity” can be read at the beginning of the video.

The video, filmed on the campus of his alma mater Tennessee State University, shows Shaw presenting the victims’ families with a check from a GoFundMe campaign he launched just days after the shooting.

Shaw raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars for the families of Akilah DaSilva, DeEbony Groves, Taurean Sanderlin and Joey Perez — who died in the April 22 shooting at the Murfreesboro Pike restaurant. Several others were also injured.

Shaw presented the donations to the families last week on TSU’s campus.

Through Friday, 100 percent of the sales from the Antioch restaurant will go to the victims’ families.

Travis Reinking, 29, of Nashville, is charged with using an AR-15 to kill the four victims. He also faces four counts of attempted homicide and one count of using a firearm while committing a dangerous felony.

Earlier this month a judge ordered Reinking undergo a mental health evaluation before his case moves forward.

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.