Police search for Travis Reinking as more details emerge about suspected shooter, who previously had his firearms seized by police

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

As an intensive manhunt continued on Monday for a half-naked man suspected in the shooting deaths of four people at a Waffle House restaurant, authorities shared reports of previous efforts to contain the gun-loving man with paranoid delusions.

Semi-naked gunman kills four at Waffle House in Nashville Read more

Authorities fanned out through Nashville and locked all but students and staff out of schools. Late on Monday morning, the Tennessean reported gunshots fired in a wooded area near the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, which police were using as a staging area. It was unclear whether the shots were connected to the search.

Police believe 29-year-old Travis Reinking may be armed with one of four guns seized from him last year after he tried to enter the White House to see Donald Trump, but later returned to him.

Burnette Chapel was the scene of a mass shooting during Sunday worship last September, in which one person was killed and six wounded. Both the church and the Waffle House are in the Antioch area of south-eastern Nashville.

More than 80 Nashville police officers continued to search for Reinking, authorities said. Agents with the FBI, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and troopers with the Tennessee highway patrol joined the manhunt.

Reinking was nearly naked, wearing only a green jacket, and brandishing an assault-style rifle when he opened fire in the parking lot at 3.25am on Sunday and then stormed the restaurant, police say. Four people were killed and four injured before a customer wrestled the gun away.

Nashville public schools went into “lock-out” mode, officials said. That meant students were free to move about their buildings but no guests or visitors were allowed to enter.

As the search continued, authorities in Illinois shared reports suggesting multiple red flags about a disturbed young man who liked firearms. In May 2016, Reinking told deputies from Tazewell county, Illinois, that music superstar Taylor Swift was stalking him and hacking his phone, and that his family was also involved.

Another sheriff’s report said Reinking barged into a community pool in Tremont, Illinois, last June, and jumped into the water wearing a pink woman’s coat over his underwear. Investigators believed he had an AR-15 rifle in his car trunk, but it was never displayed. No charges were filed.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Travis Reinking was wearing only a green jacket and brandishing a rifle when he opened fire in the parking lot and stormed the restaurant, police say. Photograph: Reuters

Last July, Reinking was arrested by the secret service after he crossed into a restricted area near the White House, saying he wanted to meet Trump. Reinking was not armed but at the FBI’s request police in Illinois revoked his state firearms card and seized four guns. The AR-15 used in the shootings was among the weapons seized.

Then, in August, Reinking told police he wanted to file a report on about 20 to 30 people tapping into his computer and phone, and people “barking like dogs” outside his residence. Reinking agreed to go to a local hospital for an evaluation after repeatedly resisting the request, a report said.

“There’s certainly evidence that there’s some sort of mental health issues involved,” Tazwell county sheriff Robert Huston said. But he said deputies returned the guns to Reinking’s father on the promise he would “keep the weapons secure and out of the possession of Travis.”Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Reinking’s father “has now acknowledged giving them back” to his son.

Phone calls to a number listed for the father, Jeffrey Reinking, went unanswered.

It is not clear why Reinking moved recently from Morton, Illinois, to Nashville and if it had anything to do with being near Swift. Police say he was employed in construction for a while.

Police say Reinking drove into the Waffle House parking lot in his gold Chevy Silverado pickup and sat for about four minutes before opening fire. The victims in the parking lot were identified as Taurean Sanderlin, 29, of Goodlettsville, and Joe Perez, 20, of Nashville. Sanderlin was an employee at the restaurant.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Waffle House restaurant in Nashville, scene of the shooting on Sunday. Photograph: Rick Musacchio/EPA

Perez’s mother posted a picture of her son on Facebook. “Me, my husband and sons are broken right now with this loss,” Trisha Perez said. “Our lives are shattered.”

One of those killed inside the restaurant was DeEbony Groves, a 21-year student at Belmont University. She was remembered as an exceptional student who made the Dean’s list, and a tenacious basketball player.

“She was a brilliant young lady, very, very intelligent and a very hard worker,” Gallatin High School basketball coach Kim Kendrick told the Tennessean.

Akilah Dasilva was also killed. The 23-year-old from Antioch was a rap artist and music video producer who was a favorite among many of Music City’s independent musicians and recording labels, the Tennessean reported.

“Music is my life and I will never stop until I achieve my dreams,” Dasilva said on his Twitter account.

Dasilva’s mother told CBS her son was a student at Middle Tennessee State University. He was at the restaurant with his girlfriend, 21-year-old Tia Waggoner, the paper reported. Waggoner was being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dasilva’s family said doctors were trying to save her leg.

Police said Sharita Henderson, 24, of Antioch, was wounded and is being treated at VUMC. Also wounded was James Shaw Jr, a 29-year-old man who burned his hand grabbing the muzzle of the assault weapon. Shaw said he was no hero despite being hailed as one.

Shaw said he pounced on the suspect out of self-preservation. “He was going to have to work to kill me,” he said.

In a bizarre twist, in the aftermath of the attack, as the restaurant parking lot was swarming with investigators, a car arrived containing a women who had just given birth in the back. Waffle House manager Tommy Hughes rushed over and helped clear the baby’s airways, the Tennessean reported.

Mother and baby were taken to hospital. “The baby just decided it was time,” said Pat Warner, a spokesman for Waffle House.