On Sunday, Reinking was also added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s “Most Wanted” list.
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Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said there was no known motive, although the suspect may have “mental issues”.
Joe R. Perez, 20, of Nashville, was a restaurant patron who was fatally wounded as he stood outside, police said.
Multiple other accounts of contact by officials with Reinking have been released by the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office.
Almost eight months later, Reinking is now under investigation for allegedly opening fire at a 24-hour restaurant on Murfreesboro Pike in Antioch, killing four and injuring several more.
The witness did not go in immediately because the restaurant was packed. Then he shot through the windows of the restaurant and walked inside.
Chuck Cordero told local media outlets that he saw the suspect get out of his pickup truck – almost naked – and immediately begin shooting. One shooting victim died at the hospital.
A reason for that shooting at a Waffle home in Antioch Sunday morning was unclear, according to police. Three of those died at the scene, and one wounded person died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“We need comprehensive gun reform to address mass shootings, domestic shootings, accidental shootings and homicides”, Nashville Mayor David Briley told the press conference.
Police praised a customer who prevented further bloodshed in the shooting.
Police identified the man who grabbed the weapon as 29-year-old James Shaw, Jr.
Mr Shaw said that when he saw the gunman pause to reload, he saw his opportunity and snatched the gun, which he said was hot to the touch, and threw it away. He then stormed the store carrying an assault rifle at around 3:25 a.m. and began shooting at the people eating inside. “He clearly came armed with a lot of firepower to devastate the south Nashville area”, Aaron said. A patron managed to wrestle away the rifle being used by the suspect, police said. “At that point, the gunman then fled”, Aaron said.
Later Sunday morning, he apparently “clothed himself with a pair of trousers”, Aaron said.
Police said he was named as a person of interest because the pickup truck that the gunman used to drive to the restaurant was registered to Reinking. “Last night, innocent Nashvilleans were terrorized by a man with an AR-15”. He added that the four weapons have been captured, including the AR-15 that Reinking utilized in Sunday’s shooting.
“Nashville woke up to devastating news”, Cooper wrote on Twitter.
In July 2017, Travis Reinking told a DC Metropolitan officer that he must get into the White House to speak with the President, according to an arrest report. Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston said his department is prepared in case Reinking returns to IL.
Authorities believe the gunman may still be armed with two of his guns. Reinking’s family also told police he had made comments about killing himself and owned several guns. He says the father agreed to “keep the weapons secure and out of the possession of Travis”. Deputies found Reinking in Tremont and confiscated his FOID card, along with four firearms.
Aaron says the four guns were returned to the suspect’s father, who acknowledged giving them back to his son.
A shirtless man wearing trousers believed to be Reinking was spotted in nearby woods later on Sunday. But two other guns are unaccounted for.
“I didn’t really fight that man to save everyone else”. “So our officers are definitely on alert”. Police say he was employed in construction for a while and there would have been enough work in the booming city for him.
It is not clear why Reinking moved to Nashville and if it had anything to do with being near the pop/country superstar. He worked in construction and was sacked from a job about three weeks ago, Aaron said. He was sacked three weeks ago before he was hired by another employer, who said he had last come to work on Monday and never returned.
Reinking told authorities he was telling the truth.
The search continued Sunday afternoon, when members of a SWAT team surrounded the apartment complex, a gated community just down the road from the Waffle House.
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Aaron said he does not have information yet on the identities of the victims, or whether they were customers or employees.
