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VOA News

Published: April 22, 2018 

Police are searching for a partially nude man who killed at least four people in a shooting spree early Sunday morning in the southern U.S. state of Tennessee.

The suspect, identified by Nashville Metro police as Travis Reinking, was reportedly wearing a coat with nothing underneath when he opened fire on patrons eating at a Waffle House restaurant before 3:30 a.m.

Three people died on-site, and a fourth succumbed to injuries later at the hospital, according to police. Three others were injured.

Police said a 29-year-old patron of the restaurant managed to wrestle what appeared to be an assault rifle from the shooter's hands, causing him to flee.

“You had a citizen to step up and intervene with an active shooter, and that’s what this man did. He is a hero here, and no doubt he saved many lives by wrestling the gun away and then tossing it over the counter, then prompting the man to leave," Don Aaron, public affairs manager at the Nashville Police Department, told reporters Sunday.

Police said a man believed to be Reinking, wearing pants but no shirt was seen in a nearby wood line. Officials warned the public that he could still be armed and is considered dangerous.