Travis Reinking, the Tennessee Waffle House shooting suspect, was arrested Monday following a manhunt in the Nashville area after a gunman killed four people and injured several others Sunday afternoon, The Tennessean newspaper said.
The suspect allegedly used an AR-15 in the assault that ended when a patron wrestled the gun away from him at the Antioch, Tennessee, restaurant, the newspaper said. While a motive for the shooting remained unclear, Reinking, 29, remained in the downtown Nashville jail on $2 million bond.
Here are seven things known about the Waffle House suspect:
1. Arrested by Secret Service at White House — Agents arrested Reinking when he refused to leave a secured area of the White House in July 2017, according to CNN. He initially told Secret Service officers that he had to speak to the president before saying he was a "sovereign citizen" with the right to inspect the grounds before being detained. He entered a deferred prosecution agreement, completed community service in November and his case was dismissed, CNN noted.
2. Firearms authorization revoked — Authorities in Tazewell County, Illinois, where Reinking lived after the White House incident, revoked his firearm authorization and seized four weapons after he was interviewed by the FBI, CNN noted. At the time, authorities took from him a Kimber 9 mm handgun, a Bushmaster AR-15 style rifle, a CZ-USA .22-caliber rifle, a Remington 710 and random ammunition.
3. Move to Tennessee — Reinking moved to Nashville later in 2017 and worked construction, CNN reported. One job fired him but he started a new construction job last week. He did not show up the following day, the broadcaster said.
4. Delusions — During an incident in his hometown of Morton, Illinois, family members reportedly told police that Reinking was suffering from "delusions" after asking them to intervene in a CVS parking lot, according to WTVF. There, Reinking told people treating him that singer Taylor Swift was harassing him by stalking him and hacking his phone, the television station reported. The family said he had made suicidal threats and owned guns.
5. Other incidents — The Tazewell County Sheriff's Office reported numerous incidents involving Reinking, WTVF noted, including one where he was accused of diving into a pool wearing only his underwear and a pink woman's house coat. He then allegedly yelled at lifeguards and tried to fight them, per the television station.
6. Loner — According to the Chicago Tribune, some friends in his hometown of Morton, Illinois, regarded him as somewhat of a loner, who was considered by some to be socially awkward. Friends there said he was raised in a Christian family and was home-schooled, and had a strong interest in photography.
7. Guns returned — Reports from the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office stated, according to the Tribune, that Jeffrey Reinking, the alleged gunman's father, took possession of his son's guns on three separate occasions, only to return them to him. Special Agent Marcus Watson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that the father now could face charges for returning guns to his son, an act that was "potentially a violation of federal law," the newspaper said.
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