UPDATE: Nashville Judge Michael Mondelli on Tuesday issued an order revoking the $2 million bond for Travis Reinking, the suspect in a deadly mass shooting at an Antioch Waffle House on Sunday.
Reinking, 29, faces four counts of criminal homicides in the case. He was arrested Monday and was originally jailed on a $2 million bond.
This is a developing story.
ORIGINAL STORY: The suspect in a mass shooting at a local Waffle House was taken into custody Monday, ending a massive 34-hour manhunt that put the Nashville on edge as hundreds of officers, search dogs and helicopters swarmed neighborhoods and swept through schools.
Police arrested Travis Reinking, 29, peacefully in a wooded area less than a mile from the scene of the shooting. His capture capped a chaotic search that began after police said he fled the scene of the shooting on foot, and naked, at about 3:25 a.m. Central time Sunday.
Metro police joined forces with the FBI, the ATF, state troopers and other agencies to look for him across a wide swath of South Nashville.
Reinking faces four counts of criminal homicide in the deaths of Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29; Joe R. Perez, 20; Deebony Groves, 21; and Akilah Dasilva, 23, during the Sunday morning shooting that also injured several others. Two people remain hospitalized.
During the manhunt, schools in Nashville and Rutherford, Williamson and Cheatham counties imposed stricter security precautions on Monday amid fear of an armed and dangerous gunman. Officials in Reinking’s home state of Illinois told local residents to "be on alert."
Despite a lockout that closed Antioch schools to visitors, officials said attendance there was lower than usual, perhaps because of parents’ safety concerns.
Some families cordoned themselves off in their homes, attempting to avoid danger. They drew their curtains tight and chose pizza deliveries over trips to the grocery store.
But the arrest opened a new chapter in the communal tragedy. Fear eased, to be overcome by grief.
Reinking is “no longer a threat to the people of our great city, which has responded with urgency and compassion,” Mayor David Briley said in a statement after the arrest. “We continue to mourn each of the victims whose lives were cut short and grieve with their families and friends.”
Vigils were planned Monday at Belmont University, where Groves was a student, and at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church campus in Antioch.
A fundraising effort led by James Shaw Jr., the heroic bystander who wrestled the AR-15 out of the Reinking's hands in the midst of the shooting, racked up thousands of dollars for the victims and their families.
At the same time, the criminal case against Reinking lurched forward.
During an interview at the South Precinct, Reinking asked for a lawyer and refused to talk to investigators, police said. He was taken to Nashville General Hospital before being booked into the downtown jail on a $2 million bond, his torn maroon long-sleeve t-shirt replaced by blue jail scrubs.
District Attorney Glenn Funk declined to answer questions Monday. A spokesman said the case was “working its way through the system.”
Federal prosecutors said investigations into Reinking are ongoing.
Motive remains unclear
A motive for the shooting remained stubbornly unclear. But a growing chorus of officials suggested mental illness might be at play, citing a series of interactions with police and coworkers.
Reinking had previously threatened people with an AR-15 rifle and told police Taylor Swift was stalking him, records show. Authorities seized four guns from him in 2017 after he was charged with being in a restricted area outside the White House.
And an employer said he fired Reinking this month for being “paranoid.”
Nashville police said little about Reinking’s state of mind, but they did release more details about his behavior leading up to the shooting.
Spokesman Don Aaron said Reinking stole a car from a BMW dealership in Brentwood this past Tuesday. Officers there chased after Reinking but discontinued the rush hour pursuit over safety concerns, Aaron said.
Police used the car’s GPS to track it to Reinking’s apartment complex before the shooting, although they had no idea he might have been the culprit.
Tip leads to arrest
For a brief period Monday afternoon, officers believed Reinking might have left Antioch.
Aaron said a Tennessee resident found a laptop case with Reinking’s name inside near Old Hickory Boulevard and Interstate 24.
It was not initially clear how the case got there. Aaron said police would broaden their search.
But an alert local resident brought the manhunt to an abrupt halt with a 911 call Monday afternoon.
Lydia French and her construction crew were working on the Mountain Springs subdivision when she saw him and called 911. Her hands were still shaking well after he was taken into custody.
"I worked out here every day last week with him living right here.
"All day long I kept thinking that could've been us."
French said she saw a man who looked like Reinking emerge from woods looking "shocked" and "disoriented."
French said Reinking noticed when she called 911. He darted behind a nearby school and she lost sight of him.
"When he seen me on the phone, he kept looking, real nervous," French said.
When police arrived, Det. Kyle Williams spotted Reinking in the wooded area and took him into custody — he was carrying a loaded silver handgun and flashlight in a black backpack.
Police photos from the scene showed Reinking, 29, being loaded into a car wearing a torn maroon T-shirt with scratches on his exposed shoulders.
Search cast a pall over Antioch
Antioch had been on high alert throughout the search, with police dotting the roads and sweeping through dense pockets of muddy, overgrown brush.
Many Antioch residents hunkered down indoors, some with their curtains drawn.
Residents peered from windows and front porches as Metro's SWAT truck rolled through the neighborhood. Officers and ATF agents plodded through thick mud and dense wooded areas that hug many of the subdivisions there.
Officers cleared schools in Antioch, which were were operating on a lockout with no guests or visitors allowed to enter. Schools in other counties, including Rutherford, Cheatham and Williamson counties beefed up security protocols.
ORIGINAL STORY:
(TENNESSEAN) -- Local and federal authorities continued their sweep through Antioch Monday morning as they searched for Travis Reinking, 29, the suspect in a deadly Waffle House shooting that killed four people Sunday morning.
The spokesman for the Metro Nashville Police Department said there still have been no confirmed sightings of the suspect, saying they don't know where he is and will extend their search and begin putting his face on billboards across the area.
Police said a citizen led them to a piece of evidence at a truck stop near I-24: An empty laptop case with a handwritten ID card with the name "Travis Reinking." Police said the ID was similar to an airport luggage tag.
Police said they are extending their search beyond I-24 near Old Hickory Boulevard.
At one point, ATF agents combed through the woods behind Burnette Chapel Church of Christ.
Burnette Chapel was the site of another mass shooting in September.
Around 10:10 a.m., the sound of rapid-fire gunshots echoed through the area. Police said the sounds were not related to the search and likely came from a nearby gun range.
Afterward, agents and officers continued their search. Residents peered from windows and front doors as Metro's SWAT truck rolled through Antioch.
Donald and Donna Griffin, 75 and 72, respectively, said they also heard what sounded like shots while they sat on the front porch of their home on Lavergne Couchville Pike.
"I'm not afraid to be out here, but I probably shouldn't be with all that's going on," Donna Griffin said. "With all the woods we've got out here he could be in our back yard and I wouldn't know it."
No one has reported seeing Reinking since Sunday morning, according to police. He was in a wooded area near his Antioch apartment complex.
Police said Reinking had also stolen a car from a BMW dealership in Brentwood last week. The vehicle was later tracked to an apartment complex with the GPS, but Reinking was not arrested at the time because no one could identify him.
Nashville police said Reinking had been working for a crane or construction company in Nashville before he had been fired about three weeks ago. Police said he had gotten a similar job last Monday but never reported to work.
During the morning commute, police vehicles with flashing lights could be seen parked throughout the area every quarter of a mile.
Police said Monday they had cleared schools in Antioch, which were were operating on a lockout with no guests or visitors allowed to enter. Cheatham County Schools also were operating on a lockout, and a Rutherford County Schools spokesman said officials there were working with law enforcement and had additional security procedures in place.
More on Waffle House shooting
Police tape still surrounded Reinking's apartment at the Discovery at Mountain View complex off of Mountain Springs Drive.
Many Antioch residents hunkered down indoors, some with their curtains drawn, after the Sunday morning shooting that killed four people and injured several others. At a Thornton's gas station on Bell Road, where early morning commuters typically flock for coffee and gas, there were only a few customers.
A patrol slowly cruised through one Antioch subdivision, eerily silent on a Monday morning when residents would normally be pulling out of driveways on their way to work and school.
Afterward, local and federal agencies launched a massive manhunt to find the suspected gunman.
There hasn't been a credible sighting of Reinking since Sunday morning, when police said he was seen wearing black pants and no shirt in a wooded area near his Antioch apartment complex.
Reinking has been charged with four counts of homicide for the deaths of Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29; Joe R. Perez, 20; Deebony Groves, 21; and Akilah Dasilva, 23.
Two people injured in the shooting who remain hospitalized at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were listed in stable condition Monday morning.
Those victims - Shanita Waggoner, 21, of Nashville and Sharita Henderson, 24, of Antioch - are receiving care at the hospital and had previously been listed in critical condition.