Man who disarmed Waffle House shooter hailed by lawmakers
Reinking has been charged with four counts of criminal homicide
The co-owner of a Colorado crane company where the suspect in a deadly weekend shooting at a Nashville restaurant once worked said she had urged federal officials to keep him in custody after he was arrested at the White House last year.
Travis Reinking, 29, is accused of opening fire on Sunday outside a Waffle House with an AR-15 rifle and then storming the restaurant, wearing only a green jacket. Four people were killed and four others were wounded in the shooting.
But Reinking had exhibited erratic behaviour for years before the shooting. Darlene Sustrich, who co-owns a Colorado crane company where Reinking once worked, said they got a call from the FBI after he allegedly tried to jump the White House fence last July.
“We told them, ‘Hang onto him if you can. Help him if you can,’” Sustrich said.
Federal officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reinking has been charged with four counts of criminal homicide. And a tweet from the Metro Nashville Police Department said he also faces four counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful possession in the commission of a violent felony.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said Tuesday that Reinking has been “compliant” and “cooperative” since he was transferred to the jail late Monday after he was captured near the apartment where he lived. Reinking is wearing a vest known informally as a “suicide smock” and will remain under close observation at a maximum-security facility in Nashville.
An attorney listed as Reinking’s lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Meanwhile, the man who snatched the rifle away from the gunman during the shooting told Tennessee lawmakers Tuesday he faced “the true test of a man,” drawing a standing ovation during his brief address.
As the state House hailed him as a hero, James Shaw Jr. said he acted to save his own life early on Sunday and saved others in the process.
“I never thought I’d be in a room with all the eyes on me, but you know, I’m very grateful to be here,” Shaw told House members. Shaw said he has gone to see some of the shooting victims in the hospital and they all remembered him. He apologised to the people whose loved ones died in the attack.
The state Senate also honoured Shaw on Tuesday.
After the shooting, authorities say Reinking escaped on foot from the restaurant and shed his only item of clothing. By the time he was captured in the woods nearby, police had searched his apartment and found the key fob to a stolen BMW they had recovered in the parking lot days earlier. The BMW theft had not initially been tied to Reinking.
Police seized multiple items from his apartment including: a Remington rifle with a magazine, cartridges for different calibres of guns, two rifle scopes and gun cleaning equipment.