Waffle House Shooting Suspect To Get Mental Health Evaluation

NASHVILLE, TN -- A Nashville judge ordered a mental health evaluation for alleged Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking Monday during the first major court date in the case.

General Sessions Judge Michael Mondelli approved a request from Jon Wing, the public defender representing Reinking, for an outpatient forensic examination which will include a mental health evaluation for the 29-year-old Illinois native accused of killing four people at a Murfreesboro Pike Waffle House late last month.

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Reinking did not actually appear in Mondelli's court Monday morning.

The district attorney's office did not object to Wing's request. The next court date in the case is set for June.

Four people - Taurean Sanderlin, 29, Joe Perez, 20, DeEbony Groves, 21, and Akilah Dasilva, 23 - were killed in the shooting in the early morning hours of April 22 at the Waffle House at 3517 Murfreesboro Pike. Initially, according to recently released transcripts, Metro Police were sent to the incorrect Waffle House.

According to investigators, a semi-naked gunman - identified as Reinking, who moved to Nashville from the small Illinois town of Morton in the fall of 2017 - armed with an AR-15 assault-style rifle opened fire at the restaurant around 3:30 a.m. April 22 . James Shaw Jr., a 29-year-old restaurant patron, wrestled the weapon from Reinking, who then ran from the restaurant.

Reinking was arrested in a wooded more than 30 hours after the shooting and is being held without bail at the Davidson County Jail.

Photo via Metro Nashville Police Department