Woman who led police to accused gunman had uneasy feeling
On the surface, she was calm, cool and collected, but on the inside, Lydia French was panicking.
Posted — UpdatedFrench called 911 Monday to say she spotted the Waffle House gunman walking through her construction site.
French said to the dispatcher, "From a distance, it looks like this guy. He's got mud all over him."
French says the suspect was just yards away from her.
On the 911 call, French said, "He is behind the elementary school headed towards the TVA lines in the woods."
French told News 4's Liz Lohuis that even though she sounds calm on the call, her heart was racing.
"I was worried because the elementary school was sitting right there," said French.
Lydia didn't know at the time Reinking was armed. It makes her shudder now because she says she made eye contact with Reinking several times.
"He stopped and looked right at us and it was a shocking look like, 'Oh there they are again,'" said French.
When she found out about the arrest just a short time later, she felt like she could finally breathe again.
"When I got to work yesterday morning I was uncomfortable anyway, an uneasy feeling. I was nauseated and sick to my stomach and honestly when I heard that was him, and all that was going on my nausea went away," said French.
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