Waffle House shooting near Nashville, Tennessee: what we know

Four people were killed and two others were injured after a gunman opened fire at a Waffle House early Sunday morning in Antioch, Tennessee, a city in the Nashville metro area.

Four people were killed and four injured when a gunman opened fire at a Waffle House early Sunday morning in Antioch, Tennessee, in the Nashville metropolitan area.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said a nude man began shooting at the restaurant at about 3:25 am. A patron, later identified as 29-year-old James Shaw Jr., wrestled the gun away from him, and he fled on foot.

The police identified Travis Reinking, 29, as a “person of interest” in the shooting and said murder warrants are being drafted against him. Police continued their search for him overnight and said there have been no “credible” sightings of him since Sunday.

What we know

• A gunman opened fire at a Waffle House restaurant in Antioch, Tennessee at 3:25 am Sunday morning. Six people were shot, including four who died, and two others were also injured in the incident.
• The Metropolitan National Police Department said in a tweet that a patron “wrestled away the gunman’s rifle” and that he was nude and fled on foot. “The man who wrestled the gun away is a hero,” Metro Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron told CNN.
• The patron was later identified as 29-year-old James Shaw Jr., who spoke with the Tennessean. “I don’t really know, when everyone said that, it feels selfish,” he said when asked about the descriptions of him as a hero. “I was just trying to get myself out. I saw the opportunity and pretty much took it.” He said he was grazed by a bullet, treated for a minor gunshot wound, and released from the hospital Sunday morning.
• Shaw described the incident and his decision to wrestle the gun away from the gunman at a press conference on Sunday. “He was going to have to work to — work to kill me,” he said.

• Police tweeted that Travis Reinking, 29, from Morton, Illinois, is a “person of interest” in the Waffle House shooting. They identified him because the vehicle he arrived in was registered under that name. They said murder warrants have been drafted against him and warned he may be carrying two guns.

• Police say the gunman was naked except for a green jacket at the time of the shooting, after which he shed his jacket and fled. However, the description has since changed, and he was spotted near an apartment complex wearing black pants.

• ”Keep your doors locked, keep your eyes open. If you see this individual — if you see a nude guy walking around this morning — call the police department immediately,” Aaron, the police spokesman, told CNN.
• Police tweeted a picture of the rifle used by the gunman on Sunday.

• The US Secret Service said that Reinking was arrested near the White House in July 2017 for being in a “restricted area.” After his arrest, his Illinois firearms authorization was revoked, and the police seized his weapons, including the AR-15 he used at the Waffle House shooting. Police believe his father received the weapons after they were taken away and returned them to him.
• Pat Warner, a spokesman for Waffle House, told Fox News members of management are at the Nashville location assisting with the incident and the company is “deeply saddened.” But what happened. “This is a very sad day for the Waffle House family, and we ask for everyone to keep the victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers,” he said.
• Nashville Mayor David Briley tweeted that it’s a “tragic day” for the city.

What we don’t know

• The identities of the victims.
• The gunman’s motives or whereabouts.