Hunt for nude gunman after four shot dead at Waffle House
A man who was naked but for a green jacket has shot and killed at least four people before a patron snatched his gun at a Waffle House restaurant near Nashville, Tennessee in the US.
The gunman, armed with what was described as an AR-15 assault-type rifle, shot and killed two people in the parking lot of the restaurant in Antioch, a section of southeast Nashville, shortly before 3.30am on Sunday.
He then entered the restaurant and opened fire on patrons, police said, killing one and wounding another, who later died.
One diner, James Shaw Jr., who had hidden near the restrooms dashed out and pulled the rifle from the gunman and tossed it over the counter.
He had gone to eat early Sunday after visiting a nightclub. He then heard gunshots, but initially though they were stacks of plates that had fallen over. Shaw says it was then that he saw restaurant workers scatter and a body near the front door as the gunman burst through the entrance.
“He shot through that door; I’m pretty sure he grazed my arm. At that time I made up my mind ... that he was going to have to work to kill me. When the gun jammed or whatever happened, I hit him with the swivel door,” Shaw told a news conference Sunday.
The gun then jammed up, and Shaw managed to get one hand on the gun and grab it. He then threw it over the countertop and took the shooter with him out the entrance. Shaw says the shooter then trotted away.
"The shots had stopped so he decided to rush the gunman, actually wrestled that assault rifle away, tossed it over the counter and, at that point, the gunman fled," police spokesman Don Aaron said.
The 29-year-old "hero" likely saved many more lives, Aaron said.
The gunman's vehicle was registered to Travis Reinking, 29, of Morton, Illinois, who police identified as a person of interest in the shooting.
A search was under way for Reinking, who police believe had been living in a nearby apartment. Police said a shirtless man wearing pants believed to be Reinking was spotted in nearby woods.
Pictured: Couple's Bali wedding before they were killed in hit-and-run
Young boy's lucky escape after father rescues him from house fire
Police initially reported three dead and four injured but updated this to say a total of six people were shot. Three of those died at the scene, and one wounded person died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The two injured remain at the hospital and Vanderbilt Medical Center spokeswoman Jennifer Wetzel said one was in critical condition and the other was in critical but stable condition.
Police told CNN the gunman shed his jacket before fleeing on foot. It was unclear if he had another weapon. Local media reported a second shooting nearby might be connected to the Waffle House incident.
Police cautioned that the man is to be considered still armed and extremely dangerous.
Shaw suffered non-life-threatening wounds from disarming the shooter, including an injured elbow, police said, and some patrons suffered facial wounds from shattered glass.
Authorities say Reinking was arrested last year by the US Secret Service for being in a restricted area near the White House.
Aaron said the 29-year-old's firearms authorisation was then revoked at the request of the FBI, and four weapons were seized, including the AR15 that he allegedly used in the shooting at the Waffle House.
Aaron says the four guns were returned to the suspect’s father, who acknowledged giving them back to his son.
Police have the AR15 and another gun found during a search earlier Sunday. But two other guns are unaccounted for.
