James Shaw Jr. has been hailed a hero for stopping a mass shooter from further killing innocent civilians at the Waffle House in Nashville in the early hours of Sunday, April 22. The 29-year-old had a gunshot graze to his elbow and his hand was burned as he grabbed the shooter's AR-15, but he still refused to skip church that day.
After receiving treatment at the hospital, Shaw was seated with his family at the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church and received the blessing Rev. Aaron Marble. He went to mass as usual despite the horrors that had unfolded just hours earlier at 3:25 a.m. that Sunday.
Shaw, who was unarmed, went after the mass shooter as he attacked diners at the Waffle House in Antioch near Nashville. The gunman, named by police as Travis Reinking, reportedly killed one employee and three customers -- Taurean C. Sanderlin (29), Joe R. Perez (20), Deebony Groves (21) and Akilah Dasilva (23) -- but there could have been more casualties if it were not for Shaw's heroic actions.
Speaking with "Good Morning America," Shaw said that he ran for cover at the restroom when Reinking open fired at the diners. At one point, the shooter looked down on his rifle and that's when Shaw took the chance to disarm him.
"I think he was reaching in his pocket and he was about to reload the weapon and the barrel of the gun was down so that's when I took my opportunity and me kind of was just wrestling," Shaw shared. He also tried to hit Reinking with the door as he took the gun and tried to run the gunman out of the Waffle House.
Shaw, however, refuses to be regarded as a hero. He said that he just wanted to save himself but ended up saving other lives in the process.
Some 36 hours after the rampage, the police captured Reinking and charged him with four counts of murder. The authorities have yet to reveal the gunman's motive as he is reportedly refusing to talk and a $500,000 bond has been set for his temporary release.
