“There’s certainly evidence that there’s some sort of mental health issues involved,” Tazwell County Sheriff Robert Huston said. But he said deputies returned the guns to Reinking’s father on the promise that he would “keep the weapons secure and out of the possession of Travis.”
Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said that Reinking’s father “has now acknowledged giving them back” to his son.
After the shooting, police recovered three of the four guns originally taken from Reinking, officials said. They believe he still has at least one handgun.
Phone calls to a number listed for the father, Jeffrey Reinking, went unanswered.
It is not clear why Reinking moved recently from Morton, Illinois, to Nashville and if it had anything to do with being near Swift. Police say he was employed in construction for a while, and there would have been enough work in the booming city for him.
Police say Reinking drove into the Waffle House parking lot in his gold Chevy Silverado pickup early Sunday and sat there for about four minutes before opening fire outside the restaurant.
