The police announced the arrest of Travis Reinking, known as the Waffle House Shooter, around 1 pm Monday, April 23rd. The killer is known for a killing rampage in the Nashville area that left 4 people dead. Reinking was found with a loaded weapon in the woods behind his apartment building, but surrendered without incident. The Mayor of the Nashville area notified the public that everyone could now be at ease, because the man that has put so many lives at risk has now been captured. The suspect was arrested by the Nashville Police Department  and is being held in Metro Jail with four counts of criminal homicide and a 2 million dollar bond. He is scheduled to appear in count on Wednesday, April 18th. “They better not let him free and say that he has some mental illness, because he deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life after killing four innocent civilians,” said Sarah Williams ‘18.

Many have questioned whether or not this could be considered a hate crime, considering the fact that Reinking is white, and 3 out of 4 were black. The Mayor immediately shut this down when asked in an interview, but it would make sense for this to be the case. When asked about the case in terms of racial conflict, Skylar Mooyoung ‘19 said “It can’t be a coincidence that a majority of the suspects in the shooting just happen to be black, he knew who he was aiming for.”

Ultimately, regardless of if it was racially driven or not, this man needs to be put in jail for the four malicious murders. Hopefully the court will give him what he deserves and he’ll never be able to see the streets of Nashville again.