Former Hays CISD Student Among Nashville Shooting Victims

Four people were killed at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee, including a former Hays County Consolidated Independent School District student. 

By, Staff

On Sunday morning, a gunman open fired on a Nashville Waffle House killing four people and injuring at least two others.

The suspect in the shooting, 29-year-old Travis Reinking was taken into custody by Nashville Police Monday afternoon.

According to CNN, Reinking was arrested last summer by Secret Service for trespassing near the White House.

His Illinois firearms authorization was revoked by FBI request, and four weapons were seized. The AR-15 style rifle used in Sunday’s shooting and the handgun found on him at the time of his arrest were two of those weapons.

One of the victims, 20-year-old, Joe R. Perez, is a former Hays CISD student. Hays CISD sent out the following statement regarding Perez.

Hays CISD was saddened to learn Monday that a former student was one of the victims of the terrible shooting incident at a Nashville, Tennessee, Waffle House restaurant.

The district joins the family and friends of Joe R. Perez in mourning his death.

Joe was a pre-K student in Hays CISD and attended school in the district until his sophomore year.

He was a student at Lehman High School his freshman year and a student at Hays High School his sophomore year.

Additionally, he was a student at Hemphill, Tobias, and Science Hall Elementary Schools, as well as Wallace Middle School.

Anytime a senseless act of violence occurs, it affects us all. The closer we are to the tragedy, the more we appreciate how precious life is.

This most recent shooting happened some 900 miles away, but with the news that one of our own school district family members was affected; it may as well have happened on our front doorstep. We will keep the Perez family in our thoughts and prayers.