TN: Semi-Naked Man Kills Four At Waffle House, Flees Scene, Still At Large
Hero wrestled gun away from the suspect, saving lives
A man wearing only a green jacket shot up a Waffle House in Tennessee, killing four people and wounding several others. The suspect has been identified as 29-year-old Travis Reinking from Illinois. Police state that they are currently unaware of a motive, but “suspect some mental issues.”
After being disarmed by a heroic customer, Reinking reportedly fled the scene completely naked and is still at large. He was last seen wearing black pants and no shirt. It is possible he still has two guns in his possession.
Four people were killed and several others were injured in a shooting at a Waffle House in Tennessee early Sunday, authorities said. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department identified the suspect as 29-year-old Travis Reinking of Morton, Illinois, who was still at large Sunday afternoon.
The shooting took place at the Waffle House located at 3571 Murfreesboro Pike in Antioch around 3 a.m. local time.
Reinking arrived at the Waffle House parking lot, exited his truck and began firing an AR-15 at two people outside the restaurant, Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said. He then went inside the restaurant and opened fire.
Authorities discovered two magazines of AR-15 ammunition in a green jacket Reinking left behind. “He clearly came armed with a lot of firepower to devastate the south Nashville area,” Aaron said.
“There is a chance that Reinking is at large with two other weapons,” he added.
Police said they were not aware any motives for the shooting.
“We suspect some mental issues but at this time there’s no notes, no verbal explanations so we don’t have a motive at this time,” Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said in a news conference Sunday.
Waffle House: 6 persons shot, 4 fatally (3 died at the scene, 1 at the hospital). The 2 others are being treated at Vanderbilt. Search continuing for Travis Reinking. pic.twitter.com/ioR7cVq899
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) April 22, 2018
An urgent manhunt is underway Sunday for a shooter who gunned down at least four people and injured several others at a Tennessee Waffle House before a “hero” patron wrestled the weapon away, police said.
Authorities surrounded an apartment complex where they believe alleged gunman Travis Reinking, 29, may be hiding after he shot at patrons at a Waffle House in Antioch, located about 16 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. They reportedly later cleared the area after it appeared Reinking was not there.
“A man believed to be Travis Reinking was last seen in a wood line near Discovery at Mountain View Apts. on Mountain Springs Dr. near the Waffle House. The man was seen wearing black pants and no shirt,” Nashville police tweeted just after 8 a.m. Sunday, the last time he was spotted.
'I don't know if it's hit me yet,' 29-year-old Waffle House hero recounts shooting.https://t.co/BdePOcAy73
— Tennessean (@Tennessean) April 22, 2018
James Shaw, Jr., the heroic Waffle House patron who disarmed the suspect, recounts that he saw an opportunity to tackle the suspect and took it.
Shaw wrestled the gun away and tossed it behind the counter before pushing the suspect out of the Waffle House. Shaw says that he “doesn’t feel like a hero.”
A 29-year-old man credited with saving numerous lives Sunday morning after he disarmed a man who opened fire on an Antioch Waffle House said he was just trying to stay alive.
James Shaw Jr., 29, said after feeling cornered he saw an opportunity to tackle the man shooting into an Antioch Waffle House. He said he doesn’t feel like a hero.
. . . . Shaw Jr. can’t recall how many shots there were, just that a man was on the floor. Shaw Jr. said he jumped toward the bathroom and the suspect shot in that direction. He said he was grazed by a bullet.
“I remember I was like ‘Dang, I’m basically in a barrel,’ ” Shaw Jr. said. “There is no place for me to go.”
As the suspect came through the door, he needed to reload, Shaw Jr. said. That’s when he said he rushed him.
“When he came in, I distinctively remember thinking that he is going to have to work for this kill,” Shaw Jr. said. “I had a chance to stop him and thankfully I stopped him.”
He added: “I grabbed the gun and kept it down. He had one hand on it. I pulled it away and threw it over the bar.”
Shaw Jr. said he pushed the suspect outside and the shooter walked quickly away.
Reinking was arrested by the Secret Service last year when he was found in a restricted area near the White House.
Authorities say the suspect in a deadly shooting at a restaurant in Nashville was arrested last year by the U.S. Secret Service for being in a restricted area near the White House.
Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said 29-year-old Travis Reinking’s firearms authorization was then revoked at the request of the FBI, and four weapons were seized, including the AK-15 that he allegedly used in the shooting at the Waffle House restaurant early Sunday. Four people were killed.
Aaron says the four guns were returned to the suspect’s father, who acknowledged giving them back to his son.
This is a developing story, so we will provide updates as more becomes known.
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Comments
James Shaw Jr. is a hero in my book, and I’d like to buy him a beer!
This, however, is deeply disturbing on many levels: “…Travis Reinking’s firearms authorization was then revoked at the request of the FBI, and four weapons were seized, including the AK-15 that he allegedly used in the shooting at the Waffle House restaurant early Sunday. Four people were killed.
Aaron says the four guns were returned to the suspect’s father, who acknowledged giving them back to his son.”
the suspect’s father ought to be in deep sh** for that
The police ought to be the ones in deep shit. The father wasn’t the lawful owner of those weapons and they police had no business turning firearms he didn’t own over to him.
Then what should they have done? Keep someone’s property indefinitely? Giving them to his closest relative who’s entitled to own them is obviously the most honest thing to do.
I’ll call this a toss-up and give Milhouse the benefit of the doubt.
As he lived in Illinois, which requires a state-issued ID card to purchase and possess a firearm (can you say ‘poll tax’?) it’s not the normal situation. If the father had an IL FOID then I don’t see that it was unusual to give the firearms to the father. Other jurisdictions have no problem keeping your confiscated firearms indefinately … even after a court orders their return.
What it shows is that regulations and outright prohibition have absolutely no effect on criminal behavior.
Totally agree, that weapons should never be given to parents of suspect. Would you hire Dad to be the guard where son is incarcerated? Let’s look at three recent mass shootings. Sandy Hook…Mom gave severely disturbed son a cornucopia of weapons. Parkland shooter was given guns by his guardian ( I know not officially, but acting in that capacity) and now we have Nashville. Parents are the worst judges of their kids behavior!!!!
“Sandy Hook…Mom gave severely disturbed son a cornucopia of weapons” SpeakUpNow.
The weapons were stolen from her after he killed her.
There’s a little phrase in the Constitution you ought to look up: “corruption of blood”. We don’t allow it here, in either direction. For good reason. Unless and until the father is convicted of a crime of his own that renders him ineligible to possess a firearm, nothing should have prevented those guns from being returned.
The accessory to murder (even if sonny manages an insanity plea) should take care of that portion of it, though.
“We suspect some mental issues…”
You don’t say.
Either that, or drugs. Or both.
including the AK-15
Sounds like a real collector’s item.
I wonder if it has one of those things that goes “up”.
WTF? cops had previously removed the suspect’s guns because “cray-cray” and gave them to his father?? and he gave them back to his troubled son?
the father deserves to be in jail.
…or worse!
From what I’ve seen reported, they didn’t bother to go the route that would make him lawfully unable to own weapons*. They removed the state permission to own weapons…which gives an obvious possibility on why he doesn’t live in Illinois anymore.
*Nevermind that if you’re crazy enough to have firearms removed, you shouldn’t be allowed to run around free anyways. It’s not like truck attacks are new and/or difficult or something.
Again, the father needs to be charged as an accessory to murder.
Completely naked, yet wearing black pants and no shirt. I am confused by this. Plus, if he was naked for whatever reason (sanity should be questioned for this and of course his shooting), it’s not like he could be hiding guns on his person.
I hope they catch him, the likelihood of him doing it again is pretty high.
That young man is a hero. Not many would do as he did. No matter your age or size, going up against someone with a gun is no joke.
Just at a guess … he was last sighted sometime after the Waffle House attack, and had partially corrected his sartorial faux pas in the meantime.
The Daily Mail, which has its uses, reports that the shooter was naked when he ran away, but he ran, apparently, to his apartment nearby, where he put on some pants and then left again on foot. It’s pouring rain in TN. With any luck the police will find him cold and miserable.
They think he went back to his apartment that was nearby and put on pants. Just last year, he was reported to the police for threatening a man with his rifle. He was wearing a pink dress and after he threatened the guy, he drove to a nearby swimming pool and exposed himself to the people there.
This guy was a raving nutcase. And still, his father handed him firearms.
FBI: “Here, we’re returning your son’s guns…we gave enough already. Give them back to your son, and no hard feelings.”
“have”
Once again we have an unemployed, democrat, muslim (source: my life), identified as someone arrested for criminal behavior?
Illegally in possession of an AR-15 (not a non-existent “AK-15”), and not a member of the NRA. Who’d a thunk? /s/
Reinking was not in illegal possession of a firearm. Illinois law does not yet (thankfully) apply outside the state of Illinois.
When was the law changed to allow the FBI to declare ‘off with his head’ or off with his guns on their willy-nilly say so? Why didn’t the FBI pursue mental competency proceedings?
Reinking’s dad may have been negligent in returning the weapons to his son, but that too, should be determined by a court. Dad may not have experienced the behavior observed by others. As far as he knew, the ridiculous Illinois firearms laws were the reason his son’s weapons were taken in the first place. After all, the FBI did not pursue competency hearings.
He’s a hero in my book because, and I mean this with no snark whatsoever, I read about wrestling a semi-naked man and I’m like, “Uggh.”
I’ll do it, if the world depends on it.
I suppose if you’ve done any wrestling you’ve wrestled a semi-naked man. But that’s not the mental image I got from this article.
To all those giving me a thumbs down, I want you to know. I’d give me a thumbs down.
A man’s got to know his limitations.
Hope the ‘dad’ rots in jail.
Never having been confronted with an active shooter, I don’t know what I’d do. But I hope Mr. Shaw gets lots of publicity about his actions, which saved his own life and probably many others. Attempts to hijack planes basically stopped after the actions of Flight 93 passengers. We’re not going down without a fight again.
When confronted by an active shooter, you shoot them. Several times. Just remember never to reload in that situation or to blow smoke off the barrel and spin the pistol on your finger more than three time before re-holstering it.
If people have not learned that they can not depend upon others for their protections, that is simply too bad.
The son may have a legal defense of insanity, but the father’s defense of stupidity, while true, won’t hold up very well.
I kind of enjoy getting the down votes.
I just gave you one to make your day 🙂
You are an angel.
They have never spent time on those Navy boats. Is there a lot of wrestling naked men going on and is that why we didn’t have to give up our ammo when we came back aboard?
Wow! Mr. Quick Reflex. What a hero. Where do I donate to his gofundme page.
And yet another example of a high-profile shooting committed by someone known to the FBI.
And not just your ordinary potential shooter, but one who was caught by the Secret Service near the White House.
“Catch and release” gun-control laws do seem a bit ridiculous.
What is an AK-15? A WW1-era weapon produced by Kalashnikov’s father or grandfather?
I think it was a rifle popular in Alaska in 1915, but I’ve been wrong a couple of time before.
I believe it was flown into Anchorage on a Boeing 747 so Balto could deliver it along with the diptheria serum.
There’s a statue in central park. Right next to the monument to the 1795 IBM computer.
I do not eat at Waffle House much anymore because you cannot conceal carry in there. You must leave you firearm in your car which leaves you defenseless in a situation such as this one. (If you ignore their signs and get caught concealed carrying in their store, then you face prosecution and Waffle Hose has some very strong, virtually neurotic, anti-gun feelings that defies all logic and/or reasoning.) When are people going to learn that disarming yourself is not a viable method of self defense?
Mr Shaw should eat At Waffle House free, forever.
FOX is reporting that he is in custody. (1120hr PDT). No details as to how or where.
Freaky how much this guy looks like Nicholas Cruz. Did seeing Cruz’ picture endlessly displayed make him think “hey, I could do that”? Is there an especially strong copy-cat effect for people who look especially like a notorious criminal?