NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A man wearing nothing but a green jacket and brandishing an assault rifle stormed a Waffle House restaurant in Tennessee and shot four people to death before dawn Sunday, according to police, who credited a customer with saving lives by wresting the gunman’s weapon away.
The gunman shot people in the parking lot before entering the restaurant, where he continued firing until a customer snatched the rifle, Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said. Four people were injured.
The police department tweeted that authorities are searching for 29-year-old Travis Reinking. Police named him as a person of interest because the pickup truck the gunman drove to the restaurant was registered to Reinking.
Witness Chuck Cordero told The Tennessean newspaper he had stopped to get a cup of coffee and was outside the restaurant when he saw the chaos unfold around 3:25 a.m.
“He did not say anything,” Cordero said of the gunman, who he described as “all business.”
Cordero said the man who wrested the gun from the suspect saved lives. “Had that guy had a chance to reload his weapon, there was plenty more people in that restaurant,” he said.
Police identified the customer as 29-year-old James Shaw, Jr.
Shaw did an interview with the Tennessean telling them he’d just arrived at the Waffle House around 3:20 a.m. after leaving an overly crowded fraternity house party. Minutes later the gunman walked in and opened fire.
“When he came in, I distinctively remember thinking that he is going to have to work for this kill,” Shaw Jr. told the Tennessean. “I had a chance to stop him and thankfully I stopped him.”
This photo provided by Metro Nashville Police Department shows Travis Reinking, who police are searching for in connection with a fatal shooting at a Waffle House restaurant in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville early Sunday, April 22, 2018. (Metro Nashville Police Department via AP)
The young man said he didn’t recall how many shots there were but saw a man on the floor. Shaw was grazed by a bullet when he jumped toward the bathroom.
At the earliest opportunity as the shooter appeared to be reloading, Shaw took his chance. He continued, “I grabbed the gun and kept it down. He had one hand on it. I pulled it away and threw it over the bar.”
The moment is surreal for Shaw who finds the idea of being hailed a hero “selfish.” “When I was in the ambulance to the hospital I kept thinking that I’m going to wake up and it’s not going to be real,” Shaw said. “It is something out a movie. I’m OK though, but I hate that it happened.”
Police spokesman Aaron said three people died at the restaurant and one person died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where two others were being treated for gunshot wounds. Medical Center spokeswoman Jennifer Wetzel said one was in critical condition and the other was in critical but stable condition.
TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center spokeswoman Katie Radel in Nashville said two people were treated for minor injuries and released.
Aaron said the gunman arrived at the restaurant, sat in the parking lot for four minutes before shooting two people outside, then entering.
Inside, Shaw grabbed the rifle from the suspect and tossed it over a counter, Aaron said. After that, the gunman fled.
“No doubt he saved many lives,” Aaron said of the customer, who he described as a hero.
After fleeing, the suspect shed his jacket. Aaron said he lived at an apartment complex in the working- and middle-class area of southeast Nashville and, based on witness reports, went there and put on a pair of pants.
Aaron said witnesses saw a man in a nearby wooded area, and police were still tracking the man more than eight hours after the shooting.
Police said Reinking, the person of interest to whom the truck the gunman drove was registered, was from Morton, Illinois. Later on Sunday, Metro Nashville police tweeted that they were drafting murder warrants against him.
Aaron said Reinking was known to both Illinois and federal law enforcement.
The victims’ names weren’t immediately released.
“This is a very sad day for the Waffle House family,” the company said in a statement on Twitter. “We ask for everyone to keep the victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers.”
Nashville Mayor David Briley said the shooting represents “a tragic day” for the city.
“My heart goes out to the families & friends of every person who was killed or wounded in this morning’s shooting. I know all of their lives will be forever changed by this devastating crime,” Briley said in an emailed statement.
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, whose district includes Nashville, said in an emailed statement that the shooting shows the need for tighter restrictions on “widespread civilian access to military-grade assault weapons.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said he and his wife, Crissy, “are deeply saddened by the tragic incident in Antioch early this morning, and we mourn the lives taken in this senseless act of violence.”
Associated Press contributed to this story.
