Travis Reinking, the suspected shooter in Sunday’s killing of four people at a Tennessee Waffle House, is still at large, having fled his apartment in black pants and possibly armed. That means kids are going back to school with a murderer possibly on the loose in their area—one with a backstory that shows just how messed-up American gun culture is. The AR-15 rifle Reinking used in the Waffle House killings had previously been seized by authorities … after he tried to breach a barrier near the White House in 2017.
Reinking was trying to meet President Trump when he attempted to cross a security barrier at the White House complex in July, federal authorities said. After an investigation by the FBI office in Springfield, Ill. — near where Reinking lived at the time — state and local officials confiscated Reinking’s guns and revoked his firearm license.
The guns, however, were later returned to Reinking’s father, who has acknowledged he gave them back to his son, officials said.
They may not know where Travis Reinking is, but his father could be—and should be—arrested right now. To say nothing of being sued for every damn thing he owns, leaving him as naked as his son was when fleeing the scene of his murders, by the victims and their families.
Nashville Mayor David Briley (D) seized on the moment to renew calls for stricter gun laws.
“For a moment, let’s be honest about what happened. Last night, innocent Nashvillians were terrorized by a man with an AR-15. Let’s be honest. Some people see these weapons as having a purpose of terrorizing other people. It’s happening too much,” Briley said.
No kidding. Who knows how many more people would have been killed if an unarmed Waffle House customer, James Shaw Jr., hadn’t taken Reinking’s weapon when he stopped to reload.