Waffle House Shooting Suspect Finally Captured by Police

Travis Reinking, the suspect in Sunday's shooting at a Nashville Waffle House, is finally in [...]

By Michael Hein

Travis Reinking, the suspect in Sunday's shooting at a Nashville Waffle House, is finally in custody according to the Nashville Police Department.

Reinking evaded capture for nearly 36 hours after he allegedly murdered four people and wounded two others in a Waffle House restaurant early on Sunday morning. On Monday afternoon, Nashville Police announced on Twitter that they had taken him into custody.

"BREAKING: Murder suspect Travis Reinking is in custody," the official department account tweeted. "Arrested moments ago."

In a separate tweet, the department posted photos of Reinking being put into a police car. He wore jeans and a maroon t-shirt, both dirty, presumably from his time hiding out in the woods. His sleeve was torn and his arm was covered in small cuts underneath.

"BREAKING: Travis Reinking apprehended moments ago in a wooded area near Old Hickory Blvd & Hobson Pk.," the tweet read.

A tip from a construction worker led police to Reinking, who was wearing a black backpack with a loaded silver handgun inside. Police feared that Reinking may have been armed with some of the guns that were seized from him last year, when he tried to enter the White House to meet President Donald Trump.

Police also said in a tweet that Reinking "refused to give a statement to detectives."

Police took four firearms and ammunition from Reinking's apartment on August 24, according to a report by CNN, as well as his firearm owners ID.

Officers later gave the guns back to Reinking's father, but investigators now believe that he may have given the firearms back to his son. The AR-15 used in the Waffle House shooting was one of those four guns.

Reinking is suspected of murdering four people in a Nashville, Tennessee Waffle House at around 3:25 a.m. on Sunday. He reportedly began firing an AR-15 assault rifle into the restaurant from the parking lot, sending shards of broken glass flying in every direction.

A heroic patron named James Shaw Jr. was able to disarm Reinking before he could complete his massacre. When Reinking paused for a moment, Shaw tackled him, wrestling the gun from his hands. In the process, he burned his palm and his elbow was grazed by a bullet. Shaw threw the gun behind the counter and Reinking fled on foot, dropping his green jacket to reveal that he was nude underneath.

All four of Reinking's alleged victims were young people of color. He took the lives of 29-year-old Taurea C. Sanderlin, 20-year-old Joe R. Perez, 23-year-old Akilah Dasilva and 21-year-old DeEbony Groves. Groves and Dasilva were college students, while Perez was a local patron and Sanderlin was an employee of the Waffle House.

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