NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Travis Reinking’s erratic behavior began years before police say he showed up without pants at a Waffle House restaurant and killed four people with an assault-style rifle.
The onetime construction crane operator bounced between states and suffered from delusions, sometimes talking about plans to marry singer Taylor Swift, friends and relatives told police. He was arrested outside the White House last year after asking to speak to President Donald Trump, and his bizarre actions seemed to intensify in recent days with a car theft.
Now Reinking is charged in Tennessee with four counts of criminal homicide. He’s been jailed without bond.
“He’s a good kid that went off the handle for some reason,” said Dave Warren, who once worked with Reinking in Colorado.
Former co-workers at Rocky Mountain Crane in Salida, Colorado, told police after the shooting that Reinking was complex.