One of the victims of the Waffle House shooting in Tennessee was singing the gospel song "Jesus Loves Me" when a shooter riddled her body with bullets. At her funeral on Saturday, the restaurant's CEO recounted 21-year-old DeEbony Groves' final minutes.
Waffle House boss Walt Ehmer spoke at Groves' funeral and shared what he learned from another survivor about what happened at his restaurant in the early hours of April 22. He said that Groves and some of her friends were singing gospel songs and raising the other diners' spirits when a man entered Waffle House and opened fired at them.
"[The witness] said, 'the last thing I remember her saying was, singing 'Jesus Loves Me,'" Ehmer shared. He also assured the family and friends of Groves that they "will get through this" grief.
"Our Waffle House family is hurting for you, and with you," the CEO added.
Groves was a senior at the Belmont University and was at the Waffle House that morning with some of her sorority sisters from Delta Sigma Theta. Friends spoke of her "tender spirit and Christian faith," according to The Tennessean.
Hundreds attended Groves' funeral at Gallantin's First Baptist Church. Pastor Juan Rodriquez from the Grace Tabernacle Christian Center, where Groves was a member of the church choir with her brother, said that the victim's "life speaks for itself" given the number of people who went to her funeral. Her Facebook profile has also been turned into a memorialized account following her death.
Waffle House hero James Shaw Jr. was given a hero's welcome when he watched his home team, the Nashville Predators, beat the Winnipeg Jets at the NHL on Monday. Police said that Shaw risked his life but prevented more deaths when he fought back and took the gun from the Waffle House shooter, named as Travis Reinking, and pushed him out of the restaurant. Four people died in the attack.
