Nashville Waffle House Shooter In Custody

Updated 2:15 p.m.

Travis Reinking was taken into custody by a narcotics unit with Metro Police, acting on a citizen tip made by phone. They were told someone saw a man crossing a construction site in dark jeans and a maroon shirt wearing a backpack.

They went to the area near 5000 Mountain Springs Drive, not far off Murfreesboro Pike and less than a mile from the Waffle House where the shooting took place. A crew of TVA line workers confirmed seeing someone in the woods.

The search team spread out. Det. Kyle Williams spotted a man fitting Reinking’s description and drew his weapon. Police say Reinking followed orders to get into the prone position. Officers searched his backpack and say they found a semi-automatic pistol with .45 caliber magazines.

Updated 1:15 p.m.

Metro Police say they have Travis Reinking in custody. We expect to learn more details in the next hour about how and where he was apprehended.

BREAKING: Travis Reinking apprehended moments ago in a wooded area near Old Hickory Blvd & Hobson Pk.
pic.twitter.com/00ukga37s6— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville)
April 23, 2018

Just an hour prior to arresting Reinking, police said they were ready to expand their search area and suggested he could even have left the state at that point.

Reported earlier:

Metro Police are no closer to finding Travis Reinking than they were in the hours after the shooting at an Antioch Waffle House that left four people dead and two wounded. Authorities expect to widen the geographic area of their search beyond the few miles around the restaurant this afternoon.

“Very soon, electronic billboards will be going up throughout the region with Reinking’s photograph urging persons to call in if they see him,” Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said. “There have been no confirmed sightings of him, so we don’t know where he is. It is possible that he has left the area. We just don’t know.”

More:

Waffle House Shooting Hero Goes From The Hospital To Church

Here’s what we learned from a noon news briefing:

• Roughly 160 law enforcement officers are involved in the search, including agencies from out of town.
• Police believe Reinking stole a BMW from a Brentwood dealership last week, though the car was already recovered.
• Metro Police think Reinking may have a handgun with him since it was not found in his apartment.

Few updates from MNPD. The suspect is still at large, no updates on where he might be, agents plan to expand the perimeter. Also, no news on the motive. We did find out that he stole a vehicle last week, which was recovered before shooting, but he had not been ID’d.
pic.twitter.com/McPFCRWSMY— Julieta Martinelli (@ItsJMartinelli)
April 23, 2018

There was some activity about two miles from the Waffle House sometime after 10 a.m. this morning.

Rumors of gunshots near the Burnett Chapel Church led the police to scour that area with dogs and go door-to-door talking with neighbors. Reporters at the scene relocated to get closer to the activity, only to return to the main law enforcement staging area near the Waffle House. 

We will update this story as news breaks.