Who Is Travis Reinking? What We Know About Waffle House Shooting Suspect

Travis Reinking, the 29-year-old suspect for a Waffle House shooting in Nashville that left four people dead, remained on the run Monday. Police do not have a motive for the massacre, though they said mental illness could be a factor. The alleged gunman has a troubled history, with prior run-ins with the law and even a Secret Service arrest last year that was supposed to keep him away from firearms.

Here's what we know about Reinking:

He was arrested by Secret Service in 2017

The Secret Service arrested Reinking in July 2017 for trespassing on White House grounds. He told police at the time he wanted to meet with President Donald Trump. He also said he was a "sovereign citizen,” according to WTOP-TV in Washington, DC. It is unclear if he was referring to the sovereign citizen movement, a loose collective of Americans who say they reject the common law and government.

His weapons were taken away 

After his arrest, authorities in Illinois' Tazewell County, where Reinking lived at the time, seized four of his weapons, including the AR-15 assault-style rifle used in the Waffle House massacre. The weapons were given to Reinking's father, who said he would keep them from his son but apparently returned them at some point, police said.

He thought Taylor Swift was stalking him

In May 2016, police were called to a CVS parking lot in Morton, Illinois after Reinking's parents and grandmother said they were worried about him. They told police that for two years, he had been delusional and talking about suicide. When police and an official with an emergency response service talked to Reinking that day, he told them tpop star Taylor Swift was stalking him and hacking into his phone and Netflix account, according to WTVF-TV in Nashville.

He has been caught with an AR-15 before

In June 2017, Reinking allegedly wore a pink dress and carried an AR-15 to his father's business,  J&J Crane, in Tremont, Illinois. He was yelling at someone at the business, according to HOI ABC in Peoria, Illinois. That same day he fled to a nearby public pool and jumped in. At some point he allegedly took off the dress and exposed himself to lifeguards. Police said that Reinking's father told them that he would lock up Reinking's guns until he received mental health help. It's unclear if Reinking was charged in connection with this incident.

“Illuminati is real.”

A Facebook page that appeared to belong to Reinking included the comment, “Illuminati is real.” The page had 13 friends. 

[Photo: Metro Nashville Police Department]