The man who wrested the gun away from the suspect in Nashville's Waffle House shooting says he had entered the restaurant just two minutes ahead of the gunman.

James Shaw Jr. says he had gone to eat early Sunday after visiting a nightclub. He then heard gunshots, but initially though they were stacks of plates that had fallen over. Shaw says it was then that he saw restaurant workers scatter and a body near the front door as the gunman burst through the entrance.

"He shot through that door; I'm pretty sure he grazed my arm. At that time I made up my mind ... that he was going to have to work to kill me. When the gun jammed or whatever happened, I hit him with the swivel door," Shaw told a news conference Sunday.

The gun then jammed up, and Shaw managed to get one hand on the gun and grab it. He then threw it over the countertop and took the shooter with him out the entrance. Shaw says the shooter then trotted away.

Authorities are hailing Shaw as a hero for preventing further bloodshed at the restaurant.

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2:30 p.m.

Authorities say the suspect in a deadly shooting at a restaurant in Nashville was arrested last year by the U.S. Secret Service for being in a restricted area near the White House.

Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said 29-year-old Travis Reinking's firearms authorization was then revoked at the request of the FBI, and four weapons were seized, including the AR15 that he allegedly used in the shooting at the Waffle House restaurant early Sunday. Four people were killed.

Aaron says the four guns were returned to the suspect's father, who acknowledged giving them back to his son.

Police have the AR15 and another gun found during a search earlier Sunday. But two other guns are unaccounted for. Aaron says Reinking is still at large following the 3:25 a.m. shooting and could possibly be armed with the two guns.

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11 a.m.

A U.S. congressman is calling for restricting access to some assault weapons in the wake of a shooting at a restaurant in Tennessee on Sunday that left four people dead.

Rep. Jim Cooper issued a statement Sunday, calling for restricting "widespread civilian access to military-grade assault weapons."

Cooper's statement came in the wake of a shooting at a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville. In addition to the four deaths, at least two people were injured.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said via Twitter that authorities are searching for 29-year-old Travis Reinking in connection with the shooting. Authorities had characterized the weapon used in the shooting as an "assault-type" rifle.

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7:30 a.m.

Police in Nashville say three people are dead and four are injured after a shooting at a Waffle House restaurant early Sunday.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department says the gunman was a white man with short hair who was wearing only black pants and a coat. A customer at the restaurant took the gun from the suspect, who then took off his coat and fled the area.

Police said via their Twitter account that authorities are searching for 29-year-old Travis Reinking. They said they named him as a suspect because the car that the gunman arrived in was registered to him.