Nashville Waffle House shooting: Man suspected of fatally shooting four people arrested

Travis Reinking is suspected to have shot and killed four people at a Waffle House

Police said they apprehended shooting suspect Travis Reinking in a wooded area (Nashville Police Department)

Nashville police officers have arrested the man suspected of opening fire at a Waffle House, ending a methodical day-and-half manhunt.

Acting on a tip, law enforcement located Travis Reinking in a wooded area near a construction site. He surrendered swiftly, authorities said, and was found to be carrying a backpack with a semiautomatic weapon. The Nashville police department released an image of the suspect with his short torn, his jeans muddied and scratches visible on his shoulder.

Four people died after a gunman believed to be Mr Reinking strode into a Waffle House in the early hours of Sunday morning and opened fire. In the hours leading up to Mr Reinking’s capture, some 160 police officers fanned out to search, joined by agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

As the search unfolded, authorities in multiple jurisdictions released details depicting Mr Reinking, who is 29, as a young man who had repeatedly interacted with law enforcement and shown warning signs.

Nashville police said on Monday that the suspect had stolen a car from a BMW dealership last week. Police officers in the town of Brentwood began chasing him but “because of all of the vehicles on the road at that time and the fact that this vehicle had GPS capability and could be tracked, the pursuit was discontinued”, Nashville police department spokesman Don Aaron said.

When police recovered the car at Mr Reinking's apartment complex, Mr Aaron said, they did not make an arrest and “had no idea who the man was”. He said it was unclear what the motive for the theft may have been.

He was arrested by the Secret Service last year near and charged with unlawful entry after crossing a security barrier guarding the White House. Secret Service agent Todd Hudson told reporters that Reinking had said he wanted to meet Donald Trump.

After that incident, Mr Reinking had his Illinois gun ownership rights revoked. Deputies with the Tazewell County, Illinois sheriff’ took away four guns - including the AR-15 he is believed to have wielded over the weekend - and turned them over to Mr Reinking’s father.

The father subsequently gave the weapons back to his son, Mr Aaron said. Another of the four seized guns was found at Mr Reinking’s apartment after the shooting.

Resident ATF agent in charge Marcus Watson said Mr Reinking's father could potentially face charges.

“If you transfer weapons knowingly to a person that is prohibited, that could potentially be a violation of federal law”, Mr Watson told reporters.

Facing questions about whether authorities fumbled a chance to prevent the shooting, Nashville-based FBI official Matt Espenshade told reporters that “every federal resource was brought to bear” after the White House incident.

“We were able to effectively neutralize what we thought was the threat at the time”, Mr Espenshade said.

Even before stripping Mr Reinking of his firearms, the Tazewell sheriff’s office had had repeated contact with the young man. The department released a series of reports detailing interactions that Mr Huston described as offering evidence of a troubled mind.

“There’s certainly evidence that there’s some sort of mental health issues involved”, Mr Reinking said.

At one point, he told police officers that he believed pop star Taylor Swift was stalking him, according to a police report released by the sheriff’s department. His family conveyed that Mr Reinking had “made comments about killing himself” and “had access to many firearms”.

Greater bloodshed was likely averted when a Waffle House customer named James Shaw tackled the assailant as he reloaded, knocking away his weapon. Mr Shaw sustained only minor injuries.

“I kind of made up my mind…that if it came down to it, he was going to have to work to kill me”, Mr Shaw told reporters.

While Mr Shaw described his action as a mere act of self-preservation, he was widely lauded for his courage. Nashville police chief Steve Anderson called his act “beyond belief”, and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders praised Mr Shaw's “heroic actions”.

“Mr Shaw saved lives”, she said, adding that the White House had been in touch with local and state law enforcement about the manhunt.