Police hunting for a gunman who fled naked after killing four people at a Nashville Waffle House have searched public schools through the night to make sure they will be safe when they reopen.
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Nashville police officials have posted on Facebook that all local schools have been searched and will be searched again before opening for students on Monday morning, with schools now in "lock-out", barring all visitors.
"Metro Nashville Public Schools Parents always have the final decision on whether to send their child to school," the statement said.
The victims of the shooting on Sunday morning have been identified, police say.
Slain outside the restaurant in Nashville's Antioch neighbourhood shortly before 3.30am (local time) on Sunday were Waffle House employee Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and customer Joe R Perez, 20, police said. Inside, the shooter killed patrons DeEbony Groves, 21, and Akilah Dasilva, 23.
"Please say a prayer for my family for today is the hardest day of my life. Me, my husband and sons are broken right now with this loss. Our lives are shattered," Perez's mother Trisha Perez posted on Facebook.
Dasilva's mother Shaundelle Brooks told CBS News affiliate WTVF her son was a student at Middle Tennessee State University pursuing music engineering: "He meant the world to us. He was humble, kind, compassionate, outgoing and very creative."
Groves was a Belmont University student, described by her high school basketball coach Kim Kendrick on CBS News affiliate WTVF as a tenacious player.
Two wounded customers, Shanita Waggoner, 21, and Sharita Henderson, 24, were listed as critical on Monday and being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
One diner, James Shaw Jr., 29, was grazed by a bullet as he hid near a restroom before he wrestled the AR-15 assault rifle from the gunman, police said. Police credited his action with saving lives. At a news conference, Shaw said he was no hero, adding: "I just wanted to live."
Metropolitan Nashville Police Field Capt. Daniel Newbern said that the suspected shooter, Travis Reinking, 29, originally from Tazewell County, Illinois, faces multiple murder charges, and is believed to be still armed with a pistol.
Police disclosed no known motive for the attack by Reinking, who was naked except for a green jacket when he got out of his pickup truck and started shooting.
As the shooter ran off, he discarded the jacket, which contained two additional ammunition magazines for the AR-15, according to police. Reinking is believed to be still armed with a pistol, police said.
Australian Associated Press