James Shaw Jr. wasn’t supposed to be at the Murfreesboro Pike Waffle House in Tennessee early Sunday morning, the 29 year old electrician and a friend had left the overcrowded Bell Road Waffle House nearby to drive there in their quest for scattered, smothered and covered.
The change in venue would be a momentous one.
”Police say Travis Reinking, 29, opened fire at about 3:25 a.m. Shaw Jr. believed the noise came from one of the employees dropping dishes. He couldn’t recall how many shots there were, just that a man was on the floor.
Shaw Jr. said he jumped toward the bathroom and the suspect shot in that direction. He said he was grazed by a bullet.
"I remember I was like ‘Dang, I’m basically in a barrel,’” Shaw Jr. said. “There is no place for me to go.”
As the suspect came through the door, he needed to reload, Shaw Jr. said. That’s when he said he rushed him.
“I distinctively remember thinking that he is going to have to work for this kill,” Shaw Jr. said. “I had a chance to stop him and thankfully I stopped him.”
He added: “I grabbed the gun and kept it down. He had one hand on it. I pulled it away and threw it over the bar.”
James insists that he’s no hero; that his take down of a half naked crazy man brandishing an AR-15 was purely an act of self preservation.
That may be James, but how many others in the crowded restaurant rushed the shooter?
It turns out James had one big reason to want to go home.
“Shaw Jr., even after being called a hero, didn’t want to take credit for saving those that were at the Waffle House.
When asked to describe himself by reporters at a 2 p.m. news conference, Shaw Jr. said he’s a pretty cool guy. He also said that the only combat training he has is wrestling his daughter to bed.”
The linked article is the best I’ve read on the incident.
Kudos to the Tennessean. Do yourself a favor and click over to read it.