Schools on tight security as hunt for Waffle House shooter continues
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Public schools are on ‘ lock- out’ security yesterday in a Nashville, Tennessee, neighborhood near the Waffle House where a nearly nude gunman killed four people and wounded three others.
Scores of police officers, along with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, hunted overnight for the suspected shooter, Travis Reinking, 29, originally from Tazewell County, Illinois.
Police say Reinking fled the restaurant early Sunday in the Antioch neighbourhood after a patron wrestled an AR-15 assault-style rifle from him as he was reloading, police said.
The gunman, who was naked but for a green jacket, first shot and killed two people in the parking lot of the restaurant in southeastern Nashville, shortly before 3.30am Sunday.
He then entered the restaurant and opened fire, police said, killing one patron and wounding another, who later died.
Two other people were in critical condition at a hospital.
As the shooter ran off, he discarded the jacket, which contained additional ammunition, according to police.
Reinking is believed to be still armed with a pistol, police said.
All Metro Nashville Public schools in the area have been searched overnight and will be checked again before school opens, officials said on the department’s Facebook page. — Reuters