Dad who gave mentally ill son AR-15 used in Nashville Waffle House mass shooting gets 18 months

An Illinois man was sentenced to 18 months in connection with the 2018 Nashville Waffle House mass shooting, WCBU reports.

Jeffrey Reinking, 59, had been charged with giving his mentally ill son an assault weapon that was used in the shooting that killed four people, the report said.

Trevor Reinking was a patient at Methodist Medical Center of Illinois – Mental Health Unit, which made the delivery of the Bushmaster AR-15 a violation, WMBD reports.

Trevor Reinking’s Firearm Owner's Identification card had been revoked in the summer of 2017, the report said.

Attorney Michael Doubet, who represented Jeffrey Reinking, argued that Reinking was unaware of his son's mental illness, noting that the Illinois State Police revoked Reinking's FOID because he left the state, not because of his mental illness, the report said.

Prosecutors disputed that assertion.

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"He knew his son should not be provided with a firearm," Tazewell County assistant state's attorney Mike Holly said, according to the report.

Jeffrey Reinking was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting, The Associated Press reports.