The 29-year-old man who stopped a naked gunman after he opened fire at a Tennessee Waffle House on Sunday said he doesn't feel like a hero.

James Shaw Jr has been identified as the man who wrestled with suspected gunman Travis Reinking.

Reinking, 29, killed four people and injured seven others in Antioch on Sunday morning before fleeing.

Authorities identified those killed in the shooting as 29-year-old restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin of Goodlettsville, 20-year-old restaurant patron Joe R. Perez of Nashville, 23-year-old Akilah Dasilva of Nashville and Deebony Groves, a 21-year-old woman from Gallatin, Tennessee.

Sanderlin and Perez were killed outside the restaurant and Dasilva was critically wounded inside and later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Groves was shot dead inside the restaurant.

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Authorities have identified Travis Reinking, 29, as a person of interest in a Waffle House shooting that left four dead and seven others injured

Police said many more lives would have been lost if James Shaw Jr (pictured with his gunshot wound at the hospital after the shooting) had not fought Reinking

Shaw Jr, 29, is being hailed a hero after he wrestled the gunman and threw his assault rifle over the counter at Waffle House

Shots rang out at the restaurant (pictured after the shooting) in Antioch, near Nashville, around 3.25am on Sunday, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department

Akilah Dasilva, 23, (pictured) has been identified as one of the four people killed on Sunday

Reinking was nearly naked, wearing only a green jacket and brandishing an assault-style rifle when he opened fire in the parking lot and then stormed the restaurant

He was added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Top 10 Most Wanted List and is described as 6ft 4in and 180 pounds. He is considered armed and dangerous.

He was last seen Sunday around a wooded area near an apartment complex where he lived. Authorities said Reinking could be armed and weren't ruling out that he had left the area. He was believed to be wearing only pants and no shirt or shoes.

Shaw Jr said he was just trying to stay alive when he tackled the shooter and grabbed his assault rifle, throwing it over the counter.

'I'm not a hero, I'm just a regular person,' he said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon while tearing up.

'I think anybody could have did what I did if they're just pushed in that kind of cage. You have to either react or you're going to fold and I chose to react because I didn't see any other way of me living, and that's what I wanted to do, I wanted to live.'

Shaw Jr's hand was severely burned after he grabbed the barrel of the AR-15 on Sunday

Shaw Jr was visibly emotional as he sat during a press conference for the shooting on Sunday

Distress: James Shaw Jr. breaks down in tears at a press conference in Nashville where he was thanked for his bravery

Waffle House President and CEO, Walt Ehmer embraces patron James Shaw, Jr. at a press conference discussing the shooting

Shaw Jr was grazed by a bullet and treated for a minor gunshot wound on his elbow. He has since been released from the hospital

Reinking arrived at the Waffle House parking lot around 3.19am and sat in his pick-up truck for three to four minutes while staring at people inside the restaurant, according to Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron.

Completely naked except for a green jacket, Reinking opened fire with an AR-15 at 3.25am. The green jacket was later found with two magazines containing AR-15 ammunition.

'He clearly came armed with a lot of firepower intending to devastate the south Nashville area,' Aaron said.

Reinking first fatally shot two people standing outside the restaurant before he entered.

Shaw Jr, a Nashville native who works at AT&T and is a father to a four-year old girl, had been at a club when he and his best friend decided to get some food, he said.

They initially went to a different Waffle House but it was too packed, so they decided to another two miles away.

Shaw Jr said he saw Reinking sitting in truck as he headed into the restaurant.

When the shots first rang out, Shaw Jr thought a stack of plates had fallen to the ground.

Restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and 20-year-old customer Joe R. Perez were among the four shot dead by a gunman at a Nashville Waffle House on Sunday

Deebony Groves, 21, and Akilah Dasilva, 23, were also killed when the gunman stormed in and opened fire with an assault rifle

'Then the second one happened, then the third one happened, and I saw the Waffle House employees scatter and I saw a person lying on the ground at the entrance of the door,' he said.

When the gunman entered the restaurant Shaw Jr tried to hide behind a swivel door.

'He shot through that door and it grazed my arm. That's when I made up my mind - if it was going to come down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me,' he said.

Shaw Jr then saw a window of opportunity when the gunman was 'trying to reload'.

'I ran through the swivel door, hit him with the swivel door, and the gun was kind of jammed up and pushed down so we were scuffling,' he said.

'I managed to get him with one hand on the gun and I grabbed it from him and threw it over the counter.'

Shaw Jr said he didn't even feel the heat of the barrel when he grabbed the gun. After he got rid of the weapon, he pushed the gunman out of the restaurant.

The gunman fled and Shaw Jr said he didn't follow because he was scared he might have another gun. Soon after, he flagged down passing drivers to call 911.

Police have since shared a photo of the assault rife that was used in the shooting on Sunday

Metro Nashville Police Department said Reinking is now wanted for murder and warrants have been prepared

Shaw Jr said he was sorry he couldn't save more lives.

'It wasn't really a process of thinking, it was more so a now, you have to do this now or it's not...if I let him load that weapon there wasn't going to be another window,' he told News Channel 5.

'There wasn't going to be another chance. It was pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel, there was a brick wall behind us and nowhere to go.'

Shaw Jr was grazed by a bullet and treated for a minor gunshot wound on his elbow. His hands were also severely burned from grabbing the assault rifle.

After he was released from the hospital, Shaw Jr changed clothes and attended church with his family. He was joined by Nashville Mayor David Briley.

Shaw Jr said that although he is not very religious, he went to church because he felt there was 'some divine entity' looking over him during the shooting.

'In a tenth of a second something was with me to run through that door and get the gun from him,' he said during the press conference.

'You could probably do that 10 times and only come out one time with the outcome I came out with. Something, some divine entity, was looking over me.'

Shaw Jr was also adamant in his belief that he was not a hero, despite being lauded by the police, FBI, and Waffle House executives.

'I just wanted to persevere,' he said. 'I don't want people to think I'm the Terminator or Superman.'

'I just figured if I was going to die, he was going to have to work for it. I rushed him and it worked out in my favor.'

'I don't want this to be the focal point of my life. I don't want this to be a major moment in my life, even though I know it's going to be.'

Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer thanked Shaw Jr and said: 'You don't get to meet too many heroes in life but you are my hero'.

Coroners carry out a body from the Waffle House where four died in the early hours of Sunday

Three of the victims died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital. Coroners could be seen removing bodies from the restaurant on Sunday afternoon

More than 80 Nashville police officers continued to search for Reinking early Monday as disturbing reports about the wanted man's past behavior came to light.

Reinking, who is from Morton, Illinois, was on the radar of both the FBI and Illinois law enforcement.

He was arrested by the US Secret Service for crossing an exterior security barrier near the White House complex in July 2017 and charged with unlawful entry.

Reinking told Secret Service officials he was trying to set up a meeting with President Donald Trump.

After Reinking was interviewed by the FBI and Tazewell Sheriff's Department, his Illinois gun license was revoked at the request of the FBI.

Four of his weapons were seized by Tazewell authorities, including the AR-15 used in the Waffle House shooting, and the investigation was closed in October 2017.

The guns, however, were eventually returned to Reinking's father who has since admitted to giving them back to his son. The AR-15 used in the Waffle House shooting was among the four weapons.

Police recovered three of the four guns that were originally taken from Reinking, but believe he is armed with at least one handgun.

Prior to the White House incident, police reports have previously described Reinking as 'delusional' and talked about his 'mental health issues'.

His parents called 911 in 2016 because their son was convinced Taylor Swift was stalking him and he had spoken of killing himself.

'Travis is hostile toward police and does not recognize police authority. Travis also possesses several firearms,' a police report said.

Authorities said a total of eight people were taken to the hospital with injuries, including six who had gunshot wounds

Police said the suspect shot out the front window of the restaurant, leaving many people inside with visible cuts on their faces from glass

Police said the suspect shot out the front window of the restaurant, leaving many people inside with visible cuts on their faces from glass.

Witnesses said he ran to a nearby apartment complex, where he is a resident, and put on black pants before entering the woods barefoot.

A SWAT team swarmed his apartment in the morning with their guns drawn and screamed at nearby residents to 'get back'.

It was declared cleared at 3pm, with no sight of Reinking.

Reinking had moved into an apartment complex near the Waffle House just two months ago, his neighbor Brianna Bolen told the Tennessean.

Authorities also used helicopters and dogs to search a wooded area near Reinking's apartment.

Reinking is belived to have moved to Nashville in the fall of 2017 and worked in the construction trade.

Authorities said he was fired three weeks ago from one employer and recently received a job from another.

His new boss said Reinking showed up to work on Monday this week but had not been seen since.

Two of the people who died were killed outside of Waffle House and one person was fatally shot inside the restaurant

Authorities said a man believed to be Reinking was last seen walking at a nearby apartment complex. He was wearing black pants and no shirt

Authorities are currently at the scene of Reinking's apartment complex (pictured). A neighbor said he just moved in two months ago

Metro Nashville Police used a SWAT team and bomb squad to serve a search warrant at Reinking's apartment

Swat members with assault weapons could be seen patrolling the neighborhood on Sunday

Metro Davidson County Police inspect a gold truck (pictured) registered to Reinking's name

Witness Chuck Cordero went by the restaurant on Sunday morning to see his friends when the shooting began.

Cordero, 50, said he saw the gunman shoot his friend as well as a man standing at the door of the restaurant.

'He did not say anything. He pulled up, got out of his car and was all business,' Cordero told The Tennessean.

'I couldn't run, I was so scared. I was crawling on the ground.'

'From underneath my car I could see that he stood out in front of the restaurant and shot a few shots through the windows, and then he went inside.'

'I tried to run across the parking lot to get further away and once I got to the other side I looked back and there was a gentleman wrestling with the gunman.'

Cordero called Shaw Jr a 'hero'.

'Had that guy had a chance to reload his weapon, there were plenty more people in that restaurant. He really saved some people, I'm positive he did.'

Cordero said there 30 people in the restaurant at the time of the shooting.

FBI investigators arrived at Waffle House as well on Sunday afternoon following the shooting

A fourth person died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where one victim remains in critical condition and another is in critical but stable condition

Witness Chuck Cordero, 50, said he saw the gunman shoot his friend as well as a man standing at the door of the restaurant when the shooting began

Waffle House is 'very concerned' and 'gathering all the details' surrounding the shooting, spokesman Pat Warner said

Waffle House said it was '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,' the statement read.

'This is a very sad day for the Waffle House family.'

Mayor Briley called it a 'tragic day' for the city.

'This morning our city woke up to tragic news, the fragility of life was brought home to all of us by the death of four innocent Nashvillians,' he said in a statement.

'Our heart goes out to all the victims and their families and I ask that Nashville continue to pray and rally around them.'

He also called for increased gun control for assault weapons, citing an earlier shooting at a Nashville church that killed one and injured seven others.

'It's been only seven months since we had another mass shooting here in Nashville,' he said. 'And that is far too frequent.'

'If we can all just come together for the greater good, we can take these weapons of war off the streets of our country.'

'Clearly, the victims of this shooting deserve our prayers and our thoughts, but they also deserve leaders who will step up and take action and do something to take these weapons off our streets.'

Metro Davidson County Police search for the suspect involved in a wooded area near the Waffle House and Reinking's apartment

Reiking still remained at large as of Sunday morning as police remained at the Waffle House

Waffle House said it was 'deeply saddened by this tragic incident' and had senior leadership at the scene of the shooting