Suspected Waffle House shooter thought Taylor Swift was stalking him
The 29-year-old suspected gunman wanted in a deadly attack at a Nashville-area Waffle House thought he was being stalked by Taylor Swift, who he said had hacked his Netflix account and wanted to meet him at a Dairy Queen, according to reports.
The disturbing accounts emerged in police reports as Travis Reinking remained on the lam after allegedly killing four people and injuring four others in his AR-15 attack Sunday at the Antioch, Tenn., eatery.
Authorities in Illinois, where the suspect is from, said they had been in contact with him on several occasions, including on May 27, 2016, when they responded to a CVS parking lot in Morton, according to NewsChannel 5.
His parents, Judith and Jeff, and his grandmother Marilyn Hopper had told police they were worried about Reinking, who they said had been experiencing delusions since the summer of 2014.
Reinking told authorities that Swift had been harassing him and that she had hacked his phone, in addition to his Netflix account. He said he chased her up a roof after she ran away from him at a Dairy Queen, according to the station.
In June 2017, Reinking threatened someone with an AR-15 while wearing a pink dress, according to police records. After threatening a man, he drove to a public pool and dove in.
He took off the pink attire in the water before a lifeguard told him to get out. When he climbed out, he tried to fight with the lifeguard and exposed his genitals, according to the reports.
On Sunday, Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston said: “There is some evidence there is some mental health issues involved,” NewsChannel 5 reported.
Meanwhile, it emerged that among the weapons seized by Illinois authorities after Reinking was arrested by the Secret Service last July for being in a restricted area near the White House was the AR-15 assault rifle used in the Waffle House shooting, police said.
On Aug. 24, 2017, Tazewell County sheriff’s deputies took a state-issued firearms card from Reinking. On Sunday, Huston said Reinking volunteered to give up his four weapons, The Tennessean reported.
Reinking’s father — who possessed a valid state firearms authorization card — was present when deputies came to confiscate the guns, Huston said. The deputies agreed to hand over the guns to the dad after he asked, Huston said.
“He was allowed to do that after he assured deputies he would keep them secure and away from Travis,” Huston said.
Huston and Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said they believe Reinking’s father gave the guns back to Reinking.
Anderson said he believes that under Illinois law, seized firearms may be returned to someone who has a valid state authorization. He said he was not immediately aware of any Tennessee law Reinking would have violated by having guns in Nashville.
Last fall, Reinking moved to the Nashville area, where he worked in the crane and construction trade, but he may have been recently fired, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said.
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