Alleged Waffle House Killer Was Once Arrested at White House

He reportedly wanted to speak with President Trump
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 22, 2018 4:30 PM CDT
Alleged Waffle House Killer's Gun License Was Revoked: Cops
Bullet holes are seen at a Waffle House after a fatal shooting in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Sunday, April 22, 2018.   (George Walker IV/The Tennessean via AP)

A sheriff in Illinois says Travis Reinking's state firearms card was revoked last year by state police, but his guns were given to his father with the promise that they wouldn't be shared with his son. Police in Tennessee are searching for the 29-year-old Reinking, saying he's suspected of fatally shooting four people at a Nashville restaurant early Sunday. The Metro Nashville Police Department says arrest warrants charging Reinking with murder have been issued. Police say Reinking was from Morton, Ill., but moved to Nashville in 2017. Sheriff Robert Huston in Tazewell County, Illinois says his department has "no information" on how Reinking got the weapons again. Per the AP, Huston says Reinking's father has a valid firearm ownership card, and his officers didn't believe they had any authority to seize the weapons.

He says the father agreed to "keep the weapons secure and out of the possession of Travis. However, cops say that Reinking was armed with an assault rifle when he allegedly entered a Nashville-area Waffle House around 3:30am Sunday and killed four people before a patron managed to grab the weapon, reported ABC News. Reinking, who remained on the run as of early Sunday evening, has reportedly had run-ins with authorities before. According to the AP, he was arrested last July outside the White House complex where he'd hoped to talk to President Trump. Reinking was asked to leave the restricted area, and when he declined, Special Agent Todd Hudson in Nashville says he was arrested on a charge of unlawful entry. He was subsequently released and was later interviewed by the FBI and authorities in Tazewell County, Ill.

(More Waffle House stories.)

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