Police capture suspect in Waffle House shooting
NASHVILLE, TENN. — The mentally unstable man suspected of opening fire at a Waffle House restaurant in the middle of the night was arrested not far from his apartment Monday after hiding from police for more than a day after the attack that killed four people, authorities said.
Authorities had mounted a massive manhunt for 29-year-old Travis Reinking after the Sunday morning attacks, in which a gunman clad only in a jacket used an AR-15 rifle to kill four and injure others.
Metropolitan Nashville Police announced Monday on Twitter that he had been taken into custody not far from his apartment.
A detective from the department’s specialized investigations division’s narcotics unit spotted Reinking in a wooded area near a construction site, said Lt. Carlos Lara.
He said construction workers told officers a person matching the suspect’s description walked through the area and into the woods. When confronted, the suspect lay down on the ground, and officers cuffed him, Lara said.
He said Reinking carried a black backpack that held a silver semi-automatic weapon and .45-caliber ammunition. Detectives cut the backpack off of the suspect, he said.
Police spokesman Don Aaron said Reinking requested a lawyer, was taken to a hospital and would later be booked on four counts of criminal homicide.
Reinking opened fire with an AR-15 in the Waffle House parking lot and then stormed the restaurant shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, police say. Four people were killed and four others were injured before a quick-thinking customer wrestled the assault weapon away, preventing more bloodshed. Reinking then disappeared, police said.
Police say about 20 people were in the Waffle House at the time of the shootings. They included people of different races and ethnicities, but the four people killed were minorities — three black and one Hispanic.
It’s not clear why Reinking opened fire on restaurant patrons, though he may have “mental issues,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said earlier.
Police said Reinking stole a BMW days before the attack. The car was quickly recovered, but authorities did not immediately link it to Reinking.
Meanwhile, authorities in Illinois shared past reports suggesting multiple red flags about a disturbed young man with paranoid delusions.
In May 2016, Reinking told deputies from Tazewell County, Illinois, that music superstar Taylor Swift was stalking him and hacking his phone, and that his family was also involved, according to a report released Sunday.
Reinking agreed to go to a local hospital for an evaluation after repeatedly resisting the request, the sheriff ’s report said.
Another sheriff ’s report said Reinking barged into a community pool in Tremont, Illinois, last June and jumped into the water wearing a pink women’s coat over his underwear. Investigators believed he had an AR-15 rifle in his car trunk, but it was never displayed. No charges were filed.
Last July, Reinking was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service after he entered a restricted area near the White House and refused to leave, saying he wanted to meet President Donald Trump. Reinking was not armed at the time, but at the FBI’s request, state police in Illinois revoked his state firearms card and seized four guns from him, authorities said.