Four are dead and two others are injured after a gunman opened fire during the early Sunday morning hours at a Waffle House just southeast of Nashville, Tennessee.
According to WSMV Nashville, witnesses described the gunman as using an AR-15 and wearing nothing but a green jacket as he carried out the shooting. The shooting, which began in the parking lot and moved into the restaurant, took place at roughly 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee.
Add a Waffle House in Nashville to the list. AR-15s attack with the same firepower used by highly-trained INFANTRY TROOPS and therefore do not belong in the hands of normal civilians. pic.twitter.com/pdNW7yhwpO
— Jaclyn Corin (@JaclynCorin) April 22, 2018
A witness told The Tennessean that the shooter “did not say anything,” and that he “pulled up, got out of his car and was all business.”
According to Reuters, one diner, who had been hiding in the restaurant’s bathroom, managed to pull the rifle from the gunman. One victim remains in critical condition, while another remains in critical but stable condition.
Nashville police have identified Travis Reinking, 29, of Morton, Illinois, as a person of interest in the shooting, tweeting earlier this morning that the vehicle in which the gunman arrived was registered to Reinking.
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron told CNN that an unarmed customer at the Waffle House had “wrestled the gun away” from the shooter. The Tennessean identified the customer as 29-year old James Shaw Jr., who reportedly wrestled the gun away from the shooter and threw it over the counter.
A 29-year-old man saved numerous lives during Antioch Waffle House shooting, police say https://t.co/GYMn6ZG1jr
— Tennessean (@Tennessean) April 22, 2018
“I don’t really know, when everyone said that (of being a hero), it feels selfish,” Shaw Jr. told the Tennessean. “I was just trying to get myself out. I saw the opportunity and pretty much took it.”
The shooter then removed his jacket and fled the scene on foot, according to Aaron. The shooter’s whereabouts are still unknown, although a “shirtless man wearing pants believed to be Reinking” was spotted in nearby woods, according to Reuters.
A man believed to be Travis Reinking was last seen in a wood line near Discovery at Mountain View Apts. on Mountain Springs Dr. near the Waffle House. The man was seen wearing black pants and no shirt.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) April 22, 2018
Nashville police announced that murder warrants had been drafted against Reinking in response to the shooting.
Nashville Mayor David Briley tweeted on Sunday that it was “a tragic day” for the city.
It’s a tragic day for our city anytime people lose their lives at the hands of a gunman. My heart goes out to the families & friends of every person who was killed or wounded in this morning’s shooting. I know all of their lives will be forever changed by this devastating crime.
— Mayor David Briley (@MayorBriley) April 22, 2018
The incident was the second mass shooting in Antioch since September, when a masked gunman opened fire in a church in the city, killing one and injuring either others.
This post has been updated.