Waffle House shooter believed God 'commanded' him: Lawyer

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A man accused of fatally shooting four people with an AR-15 assault rifle at a Nashville Waffle House four years ago claims God made him do it.

Travis Reinking, 32, pleaded guilty by reason of insanity to all 17 counts against him, including four counts of first-degree murder.

Investigators say Reinking fired 30 rounds of ammunition inside the diner on April 22, 2018, killing four people and injuring others, before a patron wrestled the assault-style rifle away from him.

At the opening of his trial on Monday, defence lawyers told jurors that Reinking has battled schizophrenia for several years and that he is severely mentally ill, the Tennessean reported.

Stating that he suffers from paranoia and delusions, one of Reinking’s lawyers said his client believed Taylor Swift was his girlfriend, that they were communicating, and that she was threatening him.

At the time of the shooting, Reinking “believed he was communicating directly with God,” Luke Evans said of his client.

“He believed regular people walking around were out to hurt him and had been hurting him. Mr. Reinking believed he was commanded by God to go to the Waffle House in defence of himself and other people. The people at Waffle House were, in his mind, government agents.”

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In pursuing an insanity defence, Reinking’s lawyers are trying to prove to a jury that he is mentally ill and that he lacked the mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong that day.

Authorities alleged Reinking shot two people outside and then two more inside, injuring multiple others, before stopping to reload.

Akilah DaSilva, 23, De’Ebony Groves, 21, Taurean Sanderlin, 29, and Joe Perez, 20, were killed and several people were injured in the rampage.

Had it not been the brave actions of a diner who grabbed Reinking’s weapon, police said it’s likely more people could have been killed.

“None of the 22 people that were in the path of Travis Reinking at the Waffle House at 3571 Murfreesboro Pike were expecting the mayhem and destruction Travis Reinking had waiting for them,” Assistant District Attorney Jan Norman told jurors.

“The proof in this case and the evidence that will be presented to you is that Travis Reinking made a choice… he made several choices that led to the shooting,” Norman said. “He decided what time to go. He went on a Saturday night at 3:20 a.m. to a Waffle House when it would be at its busiest.”

Witness James Shaw Jr. testified that he sensed something wasn’t right when he saw Reinking, who wore nothing but a green jacket, outside the restaurant.

“His energy wasn’t right. I could just feel it,” Shaw testified, according to the Associated Press.

Surveillance video was also presented at the trial, showing bullets shattering the diner’s windows and patrons dropping to the floor, taking cover or running for their lives, Fox17 Nashville reported.