The father of the former Morton man accused in a deadly Nashville mass shooting is facing a gun charge in Tazewell County. Jeffrey Reinking of Morton is charged with Unlawful Delivery of a Firearm, a class four felony. State’s attorney Stewart Umholtz filed the charges Thursday.
Jeffrey Reinking is accused of illegally giving his son Travis Reinking a Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle in November 2017 despite the fact that Travis had been a mental health patient at Methodist Medical Center of Illinois in Peoria within the last five years.
Authorities say Travis Reinking used an assault-style rifle to fire on a Nashville-area Waffle House, killing four people. Travis Reinking has been held without bond since the April 22 attack in Nashville.
Jeffrey Reinking had legally taken possession of four guns owned by his son after Travis Reinking’s Firearm Owner’s Identification card was revoked in 2017. The father admitted in a December deposition taken for a pending civil lawsuit that he returned the guns to his son before the deadly shooting.
Jeffrey Reinking is free after posting bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the Tazewell County charges April 25. Telephone calls to his lawyer weren't immediately returned.
