Waffle House shooting hero doesn’t want to be called a hero
James Shaw, Jr., the man heralded as the hero of a deadly shooting at a Nashville-area Waffle House, doesn’t want to be called a hero. Early Sunday morning, accused gunman 29-year-old Travis Reinkling opened fire with an assault-style rifle at the Tennessee Waffle House, fatally wounding four people in and outside of the restaurant, before Shaw -- he was hiding near the bathroom when a bullet grazed his upper right elbow -- saw a window of opportunity.
He’d been looking for a chance stop the shooter, when Reinkling paused to reload his weapon, Shaw said. The barrel of the gun was facing down, and Shaw saw his moment to attack. He tackled the gunman, who police say was wearing nothing but a green jacket, and wrestle away the rifle. The gunman fled afterward, shedding his jacket and leading police on a nearly 36-hour manhunt.
“I just made it up in my mind that if he was going to kill me, he was going to have to work for this kill,” Shaw told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. “I’m grateful, and I’m very glad that I did do that.”
Police credited Shaw with saving the lives of other Waffle House patrons by confronting the assailant, but he wants people to know that when he acted, he was thinking primarily of saving his own life.
“I’m glad I intervened, and I’m glad I saved myself and everybody,” he said.
Reinking was formally charged late Monday with four counts of criminal homicide and held on a $2 million bond, court records show.