Shooting at a Tennessee Waffle House leaves four dead

On Sunday, 22 April, a man shot and killed four people at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee. The 29-year-old gunman has been added to The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations’ Top-10 most wanted list.

The suspect has not yet been found and officials say to take caution because he could be armed with a rifle and a handgun.

After fleeing the scene, completely naked, police believe he ran to his house, put on a pair of pants, and made a run for the woods.

“A man believed to be Travis Reinking was last seen in a wood line near Discovery at Mountain View Apts. on Mountain Springs Drive near the Waffle House,” police tweeted. “The man was seen wearing black pants and no shirt.”

Police said they had a police helicopter and dogs trying to track him, but the dogs lost his scent.

“He’s murdered four times with no apparent reason and no apparent motive. So we’re very concerned,” said Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson. Police have warned all citizens of Tennessee to keep their doors locked at all times and to be on the lookout.

This shooting elevated questions on whether his father should be charged for giving Reinking guns when he was forbidden of possessing one.

Reinking did not try to resist when he was found and an officer drew a gun on him. He was carrying a backpack full of ammunition, a flashlight, and one firearm. When questioned, he refused a statement and demanded a lawyer.

It’s still unclear why he shot and killed those four people or what he was doing while on the run.

It was reported that Reinking sat in his truck outside the Waffle House for nearly five minutes before he stepped out with an “assault-type rifle” and fatally shot two people before entering the restaurant and killing two others.

The shooting finally stopped when a bystander took action and jumped in to try to stop Reinking. James Shaw Jr. found an opportunity when the shooter had stopped firing. Shaw rushed toward Reinking and the two wrestled for a bit until Shaw could finally get the firearm away from him and throw it over the counter.

“I was like ‘I have to go now because if I don’t go now then I’m not going to have have another window of opportunity,” he said.

When asked, Shaw repeatedly denied that he was a hero. He visited two survivors of the attack and even started a GoFundMe account to help assist the victims of the shooting.

“Heroes seem kind of like they’re not touchable,” he said. “If I’m looked at as a regular person, if somebody else is in this situation they have that same thing within them that they can project out also.”

The victims, Taurean C. Sanderlin and Joe R. Perez were both outside of the restaurant when the gunman took his shots. When he entered the building he had shot and killed Akilah DaSilva and DeEbony Groves.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims.

Update:

Travis Reinking was arrested yesterday on 23 April, shortly after 1 p.m. near his apartment in Nashville. He was brought into Metro jail on Monday night on four counts of criminal homicide. They have scheduled Reinking to appear in court on Wednesday.