Waffle House Shooting Suspect Had Weapons Taken Away in 2017

Travis Reinking, the 29-year-old accused of opening fire at a Waffle House in the Nashville suburb of Antioch, had his weapons taken away after a July 2017 arrest near the White House, The Tennessean reports. Reinking was detained by the Secret Service for “being in a ‘restricted area’ near the White House.” In his report, Secret Service agent Todd Hudson described Reinking as wanting “to set up a meeting with the president.” After the arrest, police in Illinois revoked Reinking’s firearms authorization and came to seize four of his weapons. But Reinking’s father, who had a firearms authorization, was allowed to take possession of the weapons after telling police he would keep them away from his son. An AR-15 that was turned over to Reinking’s father was the same gun Travis Reinking allegedly used to shoot up a Waffle House on Sunday morning, killing four and injuring at least seven. Reinking is still on the loose and may have a “hunting rifle and a handgun” in his possession, police say.