Another day, another mass shooting in America. This time, it happened at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter has been identified as a White man named Travis Reinking, age 29. He was wearing nothing but a green jacket with an AR-15 and started shooting in the parking lot, killing two and then walked into the restaurant, killing two more and injuring several others.
Police put out an APB report shortly after he went on the run:
"Keep your doors locked, keep your eyes open. If you see this individual -- if you see a nude guy walking around this morning -- call the police department immediately."
Apparently, he "shed" his coat and was presumed to be semi nude.
The shooting started around 3:23am when the gunman, wielding an "assault type rifle," shot two people outside the restaurant. He then entered Waffle House and continued shooting. Witnesses report seeing people injured by cut glass from shattered windows. Two more people were shot inside the restaurant.
A witness, Chuck Cordero, told CNN that his friend "T", the cook, died while trying to get away. Horrific.
The shooting only stopped because an unarmed man literally risked his life and tackled the gunman - wrestling him to the ground and throwing the rifle over the counter. CNN reports that he James Shaw Jr, AKA HERO, heard the gunshots and hid by the bathrooms so he could "monitor" the shooters movements.
A witness described Shaw's actions:
"He saw the gunman looking at his rifle. At that point, the shots had stopped. So he decided to rush the gunman, actually wrestled that assault rifle away, tossed it over the counter. At that point, the gunman then fled."
Shaw, thankfully, only suffered an injury to his hand and a scraped arm.
A police spokesman said: "He is the hero here, and no doubt he saved many lives by wrestling the gun away and then tossing it over the counter and prompting the (gun)man to leave."
Unfortunately, 6 people were shot, 4 fatally
Shaw saved many more lives, though. He put himself in the literal line of fire, risking his personal safety to protect a room of people, many of which he probably did not know. This man did not need a gun to be a hero. He also points to the critical importance of limiting magazines, as he managed to subdue the shooter while he was reloading. How many more people would have been shot had he had a larger magazine?
Twitter responded:
So let me wrap this whole story up: A guy--who, given his state of undress, probably suffered from some sort of mental illness-- was able to buy a totally legal semi-automatic weapon which no one needs in our country and proceeded to shoot up a restaurant at 3am and was only stopped by a man who had no weapon on him except bravery and intelligence.
TELL ME AGAIN WHY WE NEED GUNS, NRA?
