Four people were killed and several others were injured when a gunman opened fire at a Waffle House in Antioch, according to Nashville police. Don Aaron of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department describes how the shooting unfolded.
Police are drafting murder warrants against the suspected gunman in the shooting, 29-year-old Travis Reinking. The gunman ran from the scene after a patron at the restaurant wrestled the rifle away from him, police said.
Police on Sunday morning were using dogs and a helicopter to search a wooded area near the restaurant where the gunman was last seen.
Police said two of the dead were shot outside the restaurant and one inside. A fourth person died at the hospital. Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville was also treating two other people who were shot in the incident that occurred around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
In addition to the six people shot, including the four who died, some other people were cut by flying glass when the gunman fired through the front window.
The person who wrestled the rifle away from the shooter is a "hero," police said.
Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said the suspect arrived at the restaurant in a gold pickup truck and waited four minutes before getting out and unleashing a barrage of gunfire.
"He was wearing only a green jacket, no pants, no shirt," Aaron said at a news conference outside the restaurant about 9 a.m.
He confirmed that a 29-year-old patron in the restaurant intervened to stop the shooting.
"He is the hero here and no doubt he saved many lives by wrestling away the gun and tossing it over the counter," Aaron said. He said the courageous customer suffered an injured elbow and abrasions while battling the gunman. He was taken to TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville for treatment.
Aaron said the gunman shed his jacket while wrestling with the patron and ran from the restaurant, leaving his truck parked outside. The truck was registered to Reinking, he said.
Police found several ammunition cartridges in the gunman's jacket left at the scene, Aaron said.
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