A gunman accused of killing four people at a Waffle House restaurant in the US city of Nashville is still on the run and considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Authorities suspect Travis Reinking, 29, could be carrying a rifle and a handgun, CNN reports.
Police reports, released on Sunday, reveal Reinking had a history of delusions, including that singer Taylor Swift stalked him.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department wrote on Twitter that the shooting occurred in an area southeast of the city at 3:25 am (0825 GMT) Sunday local time.
Three of the victims died at the scene and a fourth at a hospital, while two others people were being treated for injuries, police said.
"A patron wrestled away the gunman's rifle. He was nude & fled on foot. He is a white man with short hair," the department said.
Having twice identified the shooter as "nude," police later tweeted that the gunman had shed his coat and was last seen wearing black pants but no shirt.
Police said that "murder warrants are now being drafted against Travis Reinking," a 29-year-old from Morton, Illinois who was earlier identified as a person of interest.
Authorities identified three of the victims as Waffle House employee Taurean Sanderlin, 29, Joe Perez, 20, and Akilah Dasilva, 23.
The identity of the fourth victim, a 21-year-old woman, has not been released.
Shooter had history of delusions
Reinking feared singer Taylor Swift was stalking him and hacking into his Netflix account, according to detailed police reports.
Before moving to Nashville, authorities in Illinois documented at least five encounters with the alleged gunman from May 2016.
His loved ones were worried he would take his own life over the stalking claims and called police. They said he had had those "delusions" since 2014.
Tazewell County Sheriff Robert Huston released five police reports for Reinking on Sunday. In one, Reinking was confronted by police in a car park in 2016. He was convinced Swift was following him, and that she wanted to meet him at a nearby restaurant.
The shooting suspect believed Taylor Swift was stalking him, according to police reports. Source: Getty
Hero customer
Local police spokesman Don Aaron told a televised news briefing that Reinking had arrived in a pickup truck, and opened fire on people gathered outside the restaurant.
He then went inside the restaurant where more shots were fired, and a patron was hit, before someone was able to grab his rifle from him, Aaron said.
Customer James Shaw Jr has been hailed as a hero after he monitored the gunman's movements inside the Waffle House before he wrestled the assault rifle away.
"If it was going to come down to it he was going to have to work to kill me," Mr Shaw Jr said.
James Shaw Jr., shows his hand that was injured when he disarmed a shooter inside a Waffle House on Sunday, April 22, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Source: AP
"So at the time he was either reloading or the gun jammed, I ran through the swivel door and hit him with the swivel door and then the gun was kind of jammed up and pushed down and we were scuffling.
"And I managed to get one hand on the gun and I grabbed it from him and threw it over the countertop. After that I was trying to get out of the door and I think he was in the entrance way, so I just took him out with me and all the way outside."
Waffle House tweeted its condolences following the tragedy.
"This is a very sad day for the Waffle House family. We ask for everyone to keep the victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers," Waffle House wrote on Twitter.
Firearms authorisation revoked
A police spokesperson said the suspect in the Waffle House shooting had previously had his Illinois firearms authorisation revoked and had four weapons seized.
But the police said the guns were returned by authorities to his father, who has "now acknowledged giving them back to his son".
Police posted a photo of an AR-15-style assault rifle, saying it was the weapon used in the shooting.
AR-15s have been repeatedly used by mass shooters in the US, where the debate over gun control is fierce and gun violence is frequent.
AR-15 rifles were used to kill 58 people in Las Vegas last October, while Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz in February opened fire on his former high school with an AR-15, killing 17 students and staff members.
In the wake of the Florida massacre, student survivors launched a gun control campaign -- drawing hundreds of thousands to demonstrations -- and businesses including Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods took measures to restrict access to assault rifles and firearms in general.
However, Congress remains deadlocked on the contentious issue.
Meanwhile, an ABC News/Washington Post poll published Friday suggested that support for a ban on assault weapons has risen sharply in the past few months.
Sixty-two percent of those polled said they support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, up from 50 percent in mid-February and 45 percent in late 2015.
"Assault weapons" were banned in the US from 1994 to 2004, when the prohibition lapsed.
But even when the ban was in effect, manufacturers came up with cosmetic modifications so rifles did not meet the official definition of an assault weapon, and other functionally similar semi-automatic rifles were never banned at all.
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