NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle away from a gunman at a Nashville restaurant told Tennessee lawmakers Tuesday he faced “the true test of a man,” drawing a standing ovation during his brief address.
As the House hailed him as a hero, James Shaw Jr. said he acted to save his own life early Sunday at a Waffle House, and saved others in the process.
“I never thought I’d be in a room with all the eyes on me, but you know, I’m very grateful to be here,” Shaw told House members. The 29-year-old said he has since gone to see some of the shooting victims in the hospital and they all remembered him. He apologized to the people whose loved ones died in the attack.
The Senate also honored Shaw on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the co-owner of a Colorado crane company where the gunman once worked says she urged federal officials to keep him in custody after he was arrested at the White House last July.
Darlene Sustrich said: “We told them, ‘Hang onto him if you can. Help him if you can.’”
Federal officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said Tuesday that the gunman, 29, has been “compliant” and “cooperative” since he was transferred to the jail late Monday after he was captured near the apartment where he lived. The gunman is wearing a vest known informally as a “suicide smock” and will remain under close observation at a maximum-security facility in Nashville.
Also on Tuesday, a Nashville judge revoked the shooting suspect’s bond.
Court records show that a judge struck the gunman’s $2 million bond until a hearing can be held in May.
An attorney listed as the gunman’s lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The gunman is charged with four counts of criminal homicide. Police say he opened fire outside the Waffle House with an AR-15 rifle and then stormed the restaurant, wearing only a green jacket. Four other people were wounded in the shooting.
The gunman escaped on foot from the restaurant and shed his only item of clothing. By the time he was captured in the woods nearby, police had searched his apartment, and found the key fob to a stolen BMW they had recovered in the parking lot days earlier. The BMW theft had not initially been tied to him.
Police seized multiple items from his apartment including: a Remington rifle with a magazine, cartridges for different calibers of guns, two rifle scopes and gun cleaning equipment. Police also found three books on patents in the apartment, along with a sketchbook, two iPhones and a number of pieces of computer equipment, court records show.
Nashville Police Department Lt. Carlos Lara told reporters the gunman was arrested Monday after detectives were tipped to the suspect’s presence by some construction workers. He carried a black backpack with a silver semi-automatic weapon and .45-caliber ammunition.