At 3:30am on Sunday, April 24th, 29-year-old Travis Reinking entered a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee with an AR-15. He killed four people, and injured several others. He easily could have killed or injured more people, if 29-year-old Jame Shaw Jr. had not stepped in and wrestled the gun away from him.
According to Uproxx:
In the aftermath of the violence, Metro Nashville PD spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters that a hero wrestled away the suspect’s AR-15 gun, which saved an unknown number of lives. In an afternoon press conference, the public met James Shaw, age 29, who revealed how he decided to ambush the shooter once he realized what was happening.
He described it in the video below.
A manhunt is ongoing for Reinking, who CNN reports was arrested by the Secret Service in July 2017 after being discovered near the White House in a restricted area. At the time, authorities seized four weapons (including the AR-15 he reportedly used to kill Waffle House patrons) and revoked Reinkin’s firearms authorization (in Illinois). Authorities later delivered the weapons to Reinking’s father, who has admitted that he gave them back to the suspect. Since the AR-15 was recovered from the Waffle House scene, and police say they seized another gun at Reinking’s apartment, authorities fear that he may have the other two guns in his possession.
In the below clip, the CEO of Waffle House emotionally thanks Shaw for his act of bravery. “You don’t get to meet too many heroes in life, Mr. Shaw, but you are a hero,” said Walt Ehmer. You’re my hero.”