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He Believed Taylor Swift Was Stalking Him and Did the Unthinkable | Travis Reinking
That Chapter's 33-minute breakdown, the fullest single telling on file.
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On April 22, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at a Waffle House restaurant in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. Travis Jeffrey Reinking, then 29, arrived partially naked, wearing only a green jacket, and after sitting in a pickup truck in the parking lot for several minutes emerged with an AR-15-style rifle. He fatally shot two people outside the restaurant, then went inside and continued firing, killing a third person and fatally wounding a fourth, who later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Four others were treated for related injuries, and two additional people were hurt by broken glass. The four people killed were Joe Perez Jr., 20; Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21.
During the attack, customer James Shaw Jr., who suffered a bullet graze wound, hid near the restrooms. When Reinking appeared to point the rifle downward, either to reload or clear a jam, Shaw rushed him, wrestled the weapon away, and threw it over the counter, sustaining burns from the hot barrel in the process. Reinking then fled on foot, nude, having abandoned his jacket, which was later found to contain 60 unused rounds of ammunition. He had fired 30 rounds during the attack.
Reinking evaded capture for approximately 34 hours before being found by police after a construction worker reported seeing him enter a wooded area near the restaurant. He was carrying a backpack containing a .45-caliber handgun and ammunition at the time of his arrest.
Reinking had a documented history of severe mental illness, including delusions involving pop singer Taylor Swift, erratic public behavior, and an arrest near the White House in July 2017 after crossing a security barrier. Following that arrest, Illinois authorities revoked his firearms authorization and seized several weapons, including the rifle later used in the shooting. Those weapons were returned to Reinking's custody by his father, Jeffrey Reinking, who had told authorities he would keep them secured from his son.
Reinking was charged with four counts of criminal homicide, four counts of attempted homicide, and one weapons count. He was initially found incompetent to stand trial in August 2018 due to schizophrenia but was later found competent in October 2018. Prosecutors announced in January 2020 that they would not seek the death penalty. At trial, Reinking pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; the jury rejected that defense and convicted him on all counts on February 4, 2022, including four counts of first-degree premeditated murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Jeffrey Reinking was separately convicted in May 2022 of unlawfully delivering a firearm and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
James Shaw Jr. was widely credited as a hero for stopping the shooting, though he described his actions as motivated by self-preservation. He raised funds for victims and received public recognition, including a scholarship in his name and various awards.
