Attorneys for a man who killed four people in a shooting at a Nashville Waffle House said Monday that Travis Reinking believed the restaurant patrons and employees were government agents whom he had been commanded by God to kill.

Joel Boyers, who co-owns Helistar Aviation, ended up rescuing 17 people during the Tennessee floods. “I literally prayed just days before this that God would give me some meaning in my life, and then I end up getting this call,” he said.

The Southern Baptist Convention is electing a new president Tuesday amid a push to wrest control of the denomination by ultraconservatives who say some current leaders are too liberal.