Culture

Nashville Waffle House Hero James Shaw Explains How He Wrestled Away An AR-15 From The Gunman

Travis Reinking, the suspect in the Nashville-area Waffle House shooting, is still at large after allegedly killing four people (while nude) early Sunday morning. In the aftermath of the violence, Metro Nashville PD spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters that a hero wrestled away the suspect’s AR-15 gun, which saved an unknown number of lives. In an afternoon press conference, the public met James Shaw, age 29, who revealed how he decided to ambush the shooter once he realized what was happening.

In the above clip, Shaw describes how he first mistook the gunshots for plates crashing to the ground. He then saw someone laying on the ground near the restaurant’s entrance, at which point the gunman shot through some glass and entered the Waffle House. Shaw describes the stunning turn of events:

“I actually went behind a push door, a swivel door, and he shot through that, I’m pretty sure. And I’m pretty sure he grazed my arm. At that time, I made up my mind … that if it was gonna come down to it, he was gonna have to work to kill me. So at that time, he was reloading, or the gun jammed or whatever, is when I ran through the swivel door and hit him with the swivel door, [and then] we were scuffling. I managed to get one hand on the gun, and I grabbed it from him, and then I threw it over the counter top.”

Shaw then described how he took the gunman out the entrance with him before the man jogged away. After Shaw finished speaking, he wiped away a tear while the room broke into applause.

Doctor Eugene Gu tweeted this photo of Shaw from TriStar Southern Hills Medical Center on Sunday.

A manhunt is ongoing for Reinking, who CNN reports was arrested by the Secret Service in July 2017 after being discovered near the White House in a restricted area. At the time, authorities seized four weapons (including the AR-15 he reportedly used to kill Waffle House patrons) and revoked Reinkin’s firearms authorization (in Illinois). Authorities later delivered the weapons to Reinking’s father, who has admitted that he gave them back to the suspect. Since the AR-15 was recovered from the Waffle House scene, and police say they seized another gun at Reinking’s apartment, authorities fear that he may have the other two guns in his possession.

In the below clip, the CEO of Waffle House emotionally thanks Shaw for his act of bravery. “You don’t get to meet too many heroes in life, Mr. Shaw, but you are a hero,” said Walt Ehmer. You’re my hero.”

(Via CNN)