Man Sought in Waffle House Shooting Had Been Arrested Near White House

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/us/waffle-house-shooting.html

 

Nine months before the police said he opened fire with an AR-15 rifle on a Waffle House in Nashville, killing four people, Travis Reinking wanted to set up a meeting with the president of the United States.

That, at least, is what he told officials when they charged him with unlawful entry after he crossed an exterior security barrier near the White House complex in July, records show.

That arrest was only the latest of Mr. Reinking’s several run-ins with the authorities. Police reports show family members expressed concern for his welfare after an extended time exhibiting delusional behavior, including his belief that the entertainer Taylor Swift was stalking him and hacking his phone and Netflix account.

After his arrest for the White House episode, Mr. Reinking, 29, who lived in Morton, Ill., was forced to surrender three rifles and a handgun to officials in August. Somehow he got them back — the authorities in Illinois said on Sunday that the circumstances were unclear — and in the fall, he moved to Nashville.

On Sunday, he pulled up to a Waffle House in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville around 3:19 a.m., sat in his pickup truck for about four minutes and then opened fire, the police said.

 

Naked except for a green jacket, he then fled, and he remained at large as of Sunday night. The police said murder warrants were being drafted.

Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said at a news conference on Sunday that after leaving the restaurant, Mr. Reinking shed his jacket. In it were two magazines of AR-15 ammunition.

The police credited a customer with averting further bloodshed. The customer, James Shaw Jr., 29, seized the moment when he saw Mr. Reinking apparently trying to reload his rifle. Mr. Shaw burst out from behind a swinging door where he had been hiding, wrested the weapon away and threw it over a countertop.

“I kind of made up my mind, because there was no way to lock that door, that if it was going to come down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me,” Mr. Shaw said at the news conference.

Natalie Allison

 

✔@natalie_allison

16h

Replying to @natalie_allison

I know one of the helicopters is definitely @MNPDNashville. Not sure if the other two are TV or who is operating those.

Natalie Allison

 

✔@natalie_allison

 

 

NEW: Photo of the rifle used by suspect who walked into a Nashville Waffle House naked and opened fire, killing 4 and wounding 7. pic.twitter.com/4Y583cKDR9

7:05 AM - Apr 22, 2018

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Mr. Reinking fled on foot, and apparently returned to his apartment nearby to put on pants. He was last seen shirtless and shoeless, Police Chief Steve Anderson said. Investigators had yet to determine a motive for the killings.

Officials could not fully explain how Mr. Reinking regained possession of his weapons after they were taken away following his episode near the White House last year, which prompted federal authorities to work with county officials in Illinois to investigate Mr. Reinking. The Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois gave the weapons he owned — including the AR-15 he took to the Waffle House on Sunday — to his father.

Sheriff Robert M. Huston of Tazewell County said in a news conference on Sunday that while Mr. Reinking “voluntarily surrendered” the weapons on Aug. 24, his father had a firearm owner’s identification card and a legal right to take the weapons.

Photo

 

A police officer inspected the scene at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tenn. CreditHarrison Mcclary/Reuters

“He was allowed to do that after he assured deputies that he would keep them secure and away from Travis,” Sheriff Huston said. “We have no information about how Travis came back into possession of those firearms.”

The police in Nashville indicated that Mr. Reinking’s father returned the weapons to his son. The father, Jeffrey Reinking, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Even before he went to Washington, Mr. Reinking had a history of encounters with law enforcement in Illinois.

 

The news 

According to one sheriff’s report from May 27, 2016, he “was delusional and believed the famous entertainer, Taylor Swift, was harassing him via stalking and hacking his phone.” It added that he said he found Ms. Swift at a Dairy Queen in Morton and chased her before she disappeared.

Mr. Reinking’s family members said he had had these delusions since August 2014. The report noted that “Travis is hostile towards police and does not recognize police authority.”

In another episode on June 16, 2017, in Tremont, Ill., the police responded to a complaint that Mr. Reinking, wearing a woman’s pink housecoat, jumped into a pool and began arguing with lifeguards to get them to fight with him. No one at the pool wanted to press charges, the report said.

Mr. Reinking’s attempt to meet with the president came one month later.

Mr. Aaron said Mr. Reinking was believed to have moved to Nashville in the fall and worked in the crane and construction industries. Mr. Reinking was fired from a job about three weeks ago and found a new job, Mr. Aaron said, but had not been seen at work since Monday.

[yuna628 9,676]

I think some of the most disturbing details about this case, is the fact he had his guns and permit physically removed from him by law enforcement (and under FBI request) and that simply because his father (who lived in the home) requested law enforcement give the weapons to him for 'safekeeping', the police did just that. The father than returned the weapons to the son, and obviously knew his son was a nutjob. The father should be in jail.

 

This guy has a long history, of attempting to get in the WH, stalking Taylor Swift, was arrested for threatening to shoot someone, arrested for public nudity, believes he is a 'sovereign citizen' has had the police reports filed against him numerous times describing his deluded mental state...

 

A classic example of someone who does not belong having guns, and delusional parents...

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

7 hours ago, yuna628 said:

A classic example of someone who does not belong having guns, and delusional parents...

A PERFECT example of something I have said on here many times.  Restrict them or not, but criminals will still find a way to break the law and kill.

[smilesammich 10,727]

14 hours ago, IDWAF said:

A PERFECT example of something I have said on here many times.  Restrict them or not, but criminals will still find a way to break the law and kill.

this guy would have had an additional obstacle (getting new guns) if it weren't for his dad giving him his confiscated guns back. since when does a person illegally trespass the white house and get their guns given right back to them, even through a family member? makes no sense.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

1 minute ago, smilesammich said:

this guy would have had an additional obstacle (getting new guns) if it weren't for his dad giving him his confiscated guns back. since when does a person illegally trespass the white house and get their guns given right back to them, even through a family member? makes no sense.

You are correct on all counts.  As am I.  Some people are very committed to dealing mayhem.

[smilesammich 10,727]

1 minute ago, IDWAF said:

You are correct on all counts.  As am I.  Some people are very committed to dealing mayhem.

committed to dealing mayhem? more like he should have been committed. but for some reason, he's given his guns by the family that claims they were so worried about his mental state.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

17 minutes ago, smilesammich said:

committed to dealing mayhem? more like he should have been committed. but for some reason, he's given his guns by the family that claims they were so worried about his mental state.

Reckon his dad should be locked up in a cell right beside him for a few months. 

[smilesammich 10,727]

12 minutes ago, IDWAF said:

Reckon his dad should be locked up in a cell right beside him for a few months. 

since it's tennessee..i guess they'll both get bond. what a joke.

[yuna628 9,676]

1 hour ago, smilesammich said:

this guy would have had an additional obstacle (getting new guns) if it weren't for his dad giving him his confiscated guns back. since when does a person illegally trespass the white house and get their guns given right back to them, even through a family member? makes no sense.

Indeed. Now apparently, state law says the police can just give the confiscated guns back to someone else on the property that has a permit as long as they promise to not do the thing the father did. Sounds a little strange of a state law to me. Risk factors being a no-brainer.

 

I am horrified this guy has bond. Sounds like the junk that goes on in my rural county.

[smilesammich 10,727]

8 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Indeed. Now apparently, state law says the police can just give the confiscated guns back to someone else on the property that has a permit as long as they promise to not do the thing the father did. Sounds a little strange of a state law to me. Risk factors being a no-brainer.

 

I am horrified this guy has bond. Sounds like the junk that goes on in my rural county.

definitely need more than a promise..mandatory pinky swear maybe??

 

also saw this yesterday, don't know if its been verified yet

 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

1 hour ago, IDWAF said:

Reckon his dad should be locked up in a cell right beside him for a few months. 

A few months for helping cut down 4 young lives sounds about right. 

[charmander 692]

He was first set for a $2M bond, then after the public outcry bond was revoked today.

 

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/bond-revoked-for-accused-waffle-house-shooter

[smilesammich 10,727]

13 minutes ago, charmander said:

He was first set for a $2M bond, then after the public outcry bond was revoked today.

 

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/bond-revoked-for-accused-waffle-house-shooter

what i read this morning stated that only death penalty cases were denied bond in tennessee, but the da hasn't determined if that's what they'll pursue? 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

42 minutes ago, smilesammich said:

what i read this morning stated that only death penalty cases were denied bond in tennessee, but the da hasn't determined if that's what they'll pursue? 

Really ? Flight risk is not the driving factor?

[smilesammich 10,727]

1 minute ago, Amica Nostra said:

Really ? Flight risk is not the driving factor?

this is the article i read this morning (before they revoked bond) https://www.newschannel5.com/news/attorney-explains-why-accused-waffle-house-killer-is-allowed-bond