The family of the Nashville Waffle House gunman says the troubled man was ‘delusional’ and believed that Taylor Swift was stalking him.
Travis Reinking, 29, is on the run and is wanted by police after he opened fire with an AR-15, fatally shooting four and injuring several others on Sunday.
His family’s home in Morton, Illinois has been surrounded by FBI as his family members reveal that Reinking was suffering delusions where Taylor Swift was stalking and harassing him.
Travis Reinking, 29, who shot dead four people and injured several others at the Waffle House in Antioch, Nashville on Sunday morning, believed Taylor Swift was stalking him
Reinking had several run-ins with police in Illinois before he moved to Nashville, and one in Washington DC in 2017 when he tried to scale a fence near the White House.
His family says his delusions date as far back as 2014.
Reinking believed that Swift was hacking into his phone and into his Netflix account, according to the New York Daily News.
His family revealed that in an incident from May 2016 he believed Swift was stalking him.
Relatives called emergency services to the scene fearful that Reinking would kill himself, according to WKRN.
In that incident Reinking told Tazewell County police that Swift was following him and wanted to meet him at a nearby Dairy Queen.
When he went there he claimed that Swift yelled at him from across the street then ran away.
He chased her ‘in an attempt to get her to stop harassing him,’ according to a police report.
He followed ‘Swift’ up the side of a building and onto its roof. But when he reached the top the singer was gone.
He was taken to a local hospital for an evaluation ‘against his will’, police said.
He had at least five run ins with Illinois police before he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Swift started her music career.
Authorities seized Reinking’s (above) weapons following an incident at the White House in July last year when he was arrested by the Secret Service for crossing a security barrier
Police said arrest warrants charging Reinking with murder have been issued as authorities continue to search for the gunman following the Waffle House shooting
Police said he arrived at the Waffle House before dawn on Sunday and waited in the parking lot for four minutes before opening fire
His family revealed that he had suffered delusions since 2014 and he had at least five run ins with police in Illinois before moving to Nashville, where Swift started her career
On July 7, 2017 Reinking was arrested when he tried to enter White House grounds.
Court records show that he approached a Secret Service agent saying he wanted to speak to the President.
He refused to leave and tried to pass a security barrier saying ‘Do what you need to do. Arrest me if you have to’.
He was given 32 hours of community service to complete by the DC Superior Court and warned to stay away from the White House.
His case was dropped in November after a judge determined he had completed the diversion program and his White House trespass did not break into the press, according to Heavy.
It was after the DC incident that the FBI coordinated with Illinois State Police and Tazewell County to revoke Reinking’s gun license, according to WKRN.
He had a carry permit in Illinois and willingly gave up the four weapons he legally owned.
The guns, however, were eventually returned to Reinking’s father who has since confessed to giving them back to his son.
As police search for Reinking, investigators look for a motive.
His political beliefs are not publicly shared on Facebook.
Neighbors of Reinking’s family said that he grew up in a ‘really good Christian home’.
He has been added to Tennessee’s Most Wanted’ list on Sunday.
Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson did not reveal a motive for the Sunday shooting but did acknowledge Reinking’s history of ‘mental issues’.