Waffle House shooting suspect Travis Reinking in custody, $2 million bond revoked

The suspect in a mass shooting at a local Waffle House was taken into custody Monday, ending a massive manhunt that put the Nashville area on edge as hundreds of officers, search dogs and helicopters swarmed neighborhoods and swept through schools.

Police arrested Travis Reinking, 29, peacefully in a wooded area less than a mile from the scene of the shooting. His capture capped a chaotic search that began after police said he fled the scene of the shooting on foot, and naked, at about 3:25 a.m. Sunday.

Metro police joined forces with the FBI, the ATF, state troopers and other agencies to look for him across a wide swath of South Nashville.

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Reinking faces four counts of criminal homicide in the deaths of Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29; Joe R. Perez, 20; DeEbony Groves, 21; and Akilah Dasilva, 23, during the Sunday morning shooting that also injured several others. Two people remain hospitalized.

During the manhunt, schools in Nashville and Rutherford, Williamson and Cheatham counties imposed stricter security precautions on Monday amid fear of an armed and dangerous gunman. Officials in Reinking’s home state of Illinois told local residents to "be on alert."

Despite a lockout that closed Antioch schools to visitors, officials said attendance there was lower than usual, perhaps because of parents’ safety concerns.

Some families cordoned themselves off in their homes, attempting to avoid danger. They drew their curtains tight and chose pizza deliveries over trips to the grocery store.

But the arrest opened a new chapter in the communal tragedy. Fear eased, to be overcome by grief.

Reinking is “no longer a threat to the people of our great city, which has responded with urgency and compassion,” Mayor David Briley said in a statement after the arrest. “We continue to mourn each of the victims whose lives were cut short and grieve with their families and friends.”

Vigils were planned Monday at Belmont University, where Groves was a student, and at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church campus in Antioch.

A fundraising effort led by James Shaw Jr., the heroic bystander who wrestled the AR-15 out of the Reinking's hands in the midst of the shooting, racked up thousands of dollars for the victims and their families.

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At the same time, the criminal case against Reinking lurched forward.

During an interview at the South Precinct, Reinking asked for a lawyer and refused to talk to investigators, police said. He was taken to Nashville General Hospital before being booked into the downtown jail on a $2 million bond, his torn maroon long-sleeve t-shirt replaced by blue jail scrubs.

Nashville Judge Michael Mondelli on Tuesday issued an order revoking the $2 million bond.

District Attorney Glenn Funk declined to answer questions Monday. A spokesman said the case was “working its way through the system.”

Federal prosecutors said investigations into Reinking are ongoing.

Motive remains unclear

A motive for the shooting remained stubbornly unclear. But a growing chorus of officials suggested mental illness might be at play, citing a series of interactions with police and coworkers.

Reinking had previously threatened people with an AR-15 rifle and told police Taylor Swift was stalking him, records show. Authorities seized four guns from him in 2017 after he was charged with being in a restricted area outside the White House.

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And an employer said he fired Reinking this month for being “paranoid.”

Nashville police said little about Reinking’s state of mind, but they did release more details about his behavior leading up to the shooting.

Spokesman Don Aaron said Reinking stole a car from a BMW dealership in Brentwood this past Tuesday. Officers there chased after Reinking but discontinued the rush hour pursuit over safety concerns, Aaron said.

Police used the car’s GPS to track it to Reinking’s apartment complex before the shooting, although they had no idea he might have been the culprit.

Tip leads to arrest

For a brief period Monday afternoon, officers believed Reinking might have left Antioch.

Aaron said a Tennessee resident found a laptop case with Reinking’s name inside near Old Hickory Boulevard and Interstate 24.

It was not initially clear how the case got there. Aaron said police would broaden their search.

But an alert local resident brought the manhunt to an abrupt halt with a 911 call Monday afternoon.

Lydia French and her construction crew were working on the Mountain Springs subdivision when she saw him and called 911. Her hands were still shaking well after he was taken into custody.

"I worked out here every day last week with him living right here.

"All day long I kept thinking that could've been us."

Dave Boucher, Anita Wadhwani and Shelley Mays contributed to this report.

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