24 Apr 2018

Waffle House gunman arrested after hiding in woods

7:25 am on 24 April 2018

A nude gunman who killed four people at a Waffle House restaurant in the US state of Tennessee has been arrested by police in Nashville.

Travis Reinking shortly after his arrest.

Travis Reinking shortly after his arrest. Photo: Nashville Police

Travis Reinking, 29, shot dead four people with a semi-automatic rifle on Sunday before fleeing.

He was believed to have been hiding in a wooded area near the restaurant and his apartment.

The gunman shot two people with a semi-automatic rifle outside the restaurant before bursting in about 3.25am local time, killing two more inside.

Four other people were wounded but one - a customer, James Shaw Jnr - wrestled the weapon from the man who then fled the scene on foot.

NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 22: Law enforcement stand outside a Waffle House where four people were killed and two were wounded after a gunman opened fire with an assault weapon on April 22, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Photo: Jason Davis / Getty Images / AFP

When the firing stopped and the gunman was looking at his weapon, Mr Shaw rushed him, wresting the rifle from his hands and tossing it over the counter.

Police said Reinking was naked except for a green jacket, which he shed as he left the scene. He was armed with an AR-15 rifle, a weapon commonly used by mass shooters in the US, media reports said.

Reinking was arrested last year after entering a restricted area near the White House.

Similar rifles were used in the Las Vegas shooting last October that killed 58 people, and the Florida school attack in February that left 17 students and staff dead.

- BBC/Reuters