Tennessee Waffle House Shooting Suspect May be Armed, Police Say
Police warn that a gunman accused of killing four people early Sunday at a Waffle House near Nashville is on the run and is armed and dangerous.
Authorities suspect that 29-year-old Travis Reinking, who recently moved to the Nashville, Tennessee, area, may have two weapons on him — a rifle and a hand gun. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added Reinking to its Top ”10 Most Wanted” list, according to authorities.
Police swarmed homes and swaths of woods in the area of the shooting, searching for the suspect, who authorities believe may be close by. After Reinking fled the scene of the shooting completely naked, police believe he went to his apartment, put on a pair of pants and may have escaped into the woods.
Sheriff’s deputies 400 miles north of Nashville in Tazewell County, Illinois, where Reinking recently lived, were also on high alert.
“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.
Reinking arrived at the Waffle House in Antioch, southeast of Nashville at 3:19 a.m., wearing nothing but a green jacket, Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said.
The suspected gunman sat in his pickup truck for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes “just looking at people inside the restaurant,” Aaron said. Reinking got out of his pickup, wielding an “assault-type rifle,” and fatally shot two people outside the Waffle House, police said.
“He then went inside the restaurant (and) continued firing,” Aaron said. He said police responded to an active shooter call at 3:25 a.m.Some witnesses suffered cuts on their faces from shattered windows. Two more victims inside the restaurant were fatally shot.
Chuck Cordero, who was on a break from his job as a 24/7 roadside serviceman, was about to walk in to the restaurant when the shooting took place.
“I was very lucky — where I usually sit, one woman was killed and another was shot,” he told CNN. “I was very fortunate to have not gone into the Waffle House and sat in my car.”
“My friend ‘T,’ the cook at Waffle House, died trying to get away,” Cordero said.
Police say a Waffle House customer snatched the rifle from the gunman.