Shooting at Tennessee Waffle House leaves four dead, four injured

Shooting at Tennessee Waffle House leaves four dead, four injured

April 22, 2018

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A shooting at a Tennessee Waffle House early Sunday morning left four people dead and four others injured.
The gunman, whose motive is unclear, remains at large.

What happened?
Just after 3 a.m. on Sunday, a man pulled up to the Waffle House in Antioch, TN — just south of Nashville — and opened fire. According to witness Chuck Cordero, who regularly patronizes the Waffle House, the gunman shot and killed two people outside the restaurant before entering; once inside, he killed two more and injured several others.
“I showed up tonight and they were a little busy so I stayed in my car. As I got out, this lunatic in a pickup pulled up,” Cordero said. “[The gunman] shot a customer going in the door, shot my friend on sidewalk, shot through windows and then went in shooting. He pulled up, got right out, he was prepared to do what he did.”

Metro Nashville Police Department’s Public Relations Manager, Don Aaron, told local news that as the gunman stopped to reload, a patron attacked and disarmed him. This was confirmed by Cordero, who said:
There’s a gentleman who was in there that when the guy stopped to reload his gun he jumped him. Had that guy reloaded, there was plenty of people in that restaurant that would not have made it home this morning. [sic]
Subsequently, the gunman fled the scene, apparently without clothes.

Suspect at large
The sole suspect in the case is 29-year-old Travis Reinking of Morton, IL, who is the registered owner of the vehicle the gunman was driving. Metro Nashville Police Department tweeted that “Reinking was last seen in a wood line near Discovery at Mountain View Apts. on Mountain Springs Dr. near the Waffle House.”
Reinking reportedly did manage to procure a pair of black pants, but may still be shirtless. According to Aaron, further information is still being gathered about Reinking, whose gun license was registered in Illinois.

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Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 615-862-8600.
Mayor’s response
Nashville Mayor David Briley issued a statement later on Sunday in which he called this a “tragic day” for the city and offered his condolences to the families of the victims. Briley wrote:
It’s a tragic day for our city anytime people lose their lives at the hands of a gunman. 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 went on to ask for prayers for the victims, but said that he will be withholding further communication on the matter until the proper time.

“There’s clearly more to be said about these circumstances, but for now I ask Nashville to pray for and rally around these victims and join me in thanking the Metro Nashville Police Department as it works to find and apprehend the shooter,” Briley said. Waffle House also released a statement, echoing the mayor’s thoughts:
We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident. Right now, our first thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we will be there for them in this most difficult time. We are still gathering the details, and so we do not have much information to share… This is a very sad day for the Waffle House family.
Not the first of its kind
Sunday’s tragedy was the second mass shooting to take place in Antioch. In September, one person died and several others were injured after a masked gunman opened fire at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, located just two miles from the Waffle House.
A motive for the September tragedy was not officially released, but the suspect, Emanuel Kidega Samson, is reported to have harbored sympathies with black supremacist groups, such as the New Black Panther Pary and the Nation of Islam.
There does not appear to be any relationship between the two shootings