Gunfire Erupts During Search for Waffle House Shooting Suspect

Gunshots rang out on Monday morning as Nashville police continued their search for 29-year-old Travis Reinking, the suspect in Sunday’s shooting at a Waffle House restaurant.

Local and federal law enforcement officials are embroiled in the ongoing manhunt, now in progress for nearly 36 hours. According to a report by the Tennessean, officers from the Nashville Police Department, as well as agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were using the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ as a staging area.

At around 9:50 a.m. on Monday morning, they began combing the wooded area behind the church. People in the area told The New York Post that about 20 minutes after police entered the woods, multiple bursts of rapid gunfire broke out.

Around 10:30 a.m., a SWAT truck reportedly pulled into the parking lot. Officers began spreading out through the area as a helicopter flew overhead.

“I’m not afraid to be out here, but I probably shouldn’t be with all that’s going on,” said Donna Griffin, 72. She and 75-year-old Donald Griffin said that they heard gunshots from the front porch of their home on Lavergne Couchville Pike.

“With all the woods we’ve got out here he could be in our backyard and I wouldn’t know it,” she added.

Police spokesman Don Aaron told the Tennessean that the shots had nothing to do with the search for Reinking, suggesting that they may have come from a nearby gun range.

Authorities fear that Reinking may be 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 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 was last seen in a wooded area near his apartment complex on Sunday morning, wearing nothing but a pair of black pants.

“He’s on foot,” said Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson. “Unless he’s been picked up by a car, he would be fairly close. We don’t want to alarm people, but certainly, everybody should take precautions. It could be he’s in an unoccupied house. We want everybody to be concerned. Neighbors should check on each other.”