Waffle House Killer Is Captured

Briley also said he hopes Reinking’s arrest would be the first step in helping the community ‘move on’ from the tragedy.

‘Yesterday was a horrible day for the city of Nashville, it brought home a terrible tragedy to this community,’ he said.

‘Today is a day we can move on as a community I hope.’

Briley also called on the community to help lift up the families who had lost loved ones in the horrific shooting.

Waffle House killer

Reinking is pictured here in a previous mugshot after he tried to enter White House grounds in July 2017

‘We’re going to have to gather around them and help lift them up in the coming weeks. We need to move on as a community and do what we can to curb this violence in the future,’ he said.

Hours before his capture, police had revealed that Reinking stole a car from a Brentwood BMW dealership four days before the Waffle House shooting.

Police briefly chased Reinking through rush hour traffic but he managed to escape.

The car’s GPS tracked it to Reinking’s apartment, but he was not identified as a suspect at the time.

A key for the stolen car was later found in Reinking’s apartment following the shooting.

It was just one of many instances of Reinking’s behavior that has been revealed since the shooting.

Reinking’s family has said he was troubled and ‘delusional’ – believing that Taylor Swift was stalking him.

Waffle House killer

Restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and 20-year-old customer Joe R. Perez were among the four shot dead by a gunman at a Nashville Waffle House on Sunday

Waffle House killer

Deebony Groves, 21, and Akilah Dasilva, 23, were also killed when the gunman stormed in and opened fire with an assault rifle

Reinking had at least five run-ins with police in Illinois before he moved to Nashville, and one in Washington DC in 2017 when he tried to scale a fence near the White House.

His family says his delusions date as far back as 2014.

Reinking believed that Swift was hacking into his phone and into his Netflix account, according to the New York Daily News.

His family revealed that in an incident in May 2016 he believed Swift was stalking him.

Relatives called emergency services to the scene fearful that Reinking would kill himself, according to WKRN.

In that incident, Reinking told Tazewell County authorities that Swift was following him and wanted to meet him at a nearby Dairy Queen.

Waffle House killer

Hero diner James Shaw Jr managed to grab the rifle and toss it over a counter after the gunman opened fire. Shaw shows off his injured hand after he grabbed the gun barrel

When he went there he claimed that Swift yelled at him from across the street then ran away.

Reinking said he chased her ‘in an attempt to get her to stop harassing him,’ according to a police report.

He followed ‘Swift’ up the side of a building and onto its roof. But when he reached the top the singer was gone.

Reinking was taken to a local hospital for an evaluation ‘against his will’, police said.

Waffle House killer

Following the shooting, it was revealed that Reinking believed Taylor Swift was stalking him

Waffle House killer

Authorities seized Reinking’s (above) weapons following an incident at the White House in July last year when he was arrested by the Secret Service for crossing a security barrier

Waffle House killer

Reinking allegedly killed two people outside of the Waffle House at 3.25am on Sunday before storming the restaurant

Waffle House killer

One more patron was killed inside the restaurant and another victim died at the hospital

On July 7, 2017, Reinking was arrested when he tried to enter White House grounds.

Court records show that he approached a Secret Service agent saying he wanted to set up a meeting with President Donald Trump.

He refused to leave and tried to pass a security barrier saying ‘Do what you need to do. Arrest me if you have to’.

He was given 32 hours of community service to complete by the DC Superior Court and warned to stay away from the White House.

Reinking’s case was dropped in November after a judge determined he had completed the diversion program, according to Heavy.

It was after the DC incident that the FBI coordinated with Illinois State Police and Tazewell County to revoke Reinking’s gun license.

Waffle House killer

Reinking’s family revealed that he had suffered delusions since 2014 and he had at least five run-ins with police in Illinois before moving to Nashville, where Swift started her career

He had a carry permit in Illinois and willingly gave up the four weapons he legally owned.

Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston said deputies returned the guns to Reinking’s father Jeffery on the promise that he would ‘keep the weapons secure and out of the possession of Travis’.

Reinking’s father has since confessed to returning the guns back to his son.

In another incident, Reinking barged into a community pool in Tremont, Illinois last June.

He jumped into the water wearing a pink woman’s coat over his underwear, according to a police report.

Investigators believed he had an AR-15 rifle in his car trunk, but it was never displayed. No charges were filed.

Waffle House killer

Three of the victims died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital. Coroners could be seen removing bodies from the restaurant on Sunday afternoon

Waffle House killer

Coroners carry out a body from the Waffle House where four died in the early hours of Sunday

In August, Reinking told police he wanted to file a report about 20 to 30 people tapping into his computer and phone and people ‘barking like dogs’ outside his residence, according to a report.

Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson did not reveal a motive for the Sunday shooting but did acknowledge Reinking’s history of ‘mental issues’.

Reinking shot two people dead outside of Waffle House before he stormed the restaurant, which had around 20 people inside, police said.

One person died inside the restaurant and another died from their injuries at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Two were seriously injured from gunshot wounds and listed in critical condition on Sunday, including Tia Waggoner.

Waggoner, 21, is the girlfriend of victim Akilah Dasilva, an aspiring rapper who was a student at Middle Tennessee State University.

Dasilva’s family said Waggoner underwent surgery and doctors are currently trying to save her leg.

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