NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The trial for accused Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking is underway.
Reinking is charged with shooting and killing four people inside the Antioch restaurant in April 2018.
Abede DaSilva was one of the witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial on Monday. His brother Akilah DaSilva was one of the four people who died when the shooting happened.
“All of a sudden, I just seen glass plates and bullets flying, like hitting the glasses inside the store, like the dishes that were set up over the stove in Waffle House in the kitchen,” DaSilva testified. “I ducked down and I went toward the right, towards the bathroom.”
Opening arguments began on Monday morning and ended just after 10 a.m.
Metro Police officers who were the first to respond to the scene were the first to testify on Monday.
On the day of the shooting, police said 30-year-old Reinking walked into an Antioch Waffle House with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing four people.
Police arrested Reinking after a 34-hour manhunt. A grand jury indicted Reinking in 2019 on 17 counts, including four of first-degree murder.
Due to his mental state, the trial had been delated while Reinking underwent treatment for schizophrenia. He has since been deemed fit to stand trial.
Reinking has pleaded not guilty to the crime and now faces life in prison.
The trial started at 9 a.m. in Davidson County Court and both lawyers concluded their opening statements.