Nine Dead As Biker Gang Shootings Turn Restaurant Into Combat Zone
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WACO (CBSDFW.COM) — Nine people were killed and seventeen wounded after a biker gang shootout Sunday afternoon outside a Waco restaurant, police said.
Gunfire erupted at around noon at the Central Texas Marketplace, adjacent to Interstate 35. The conflict began inside a Twin Peaks restaurant; it turned deadly after bikers moved the argument to a parking lot. Authorities reported multiple weapons were used in the conflict, including knives, chains, bats, and at least one hundred firearms.
The nine dead are all bikers.
Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said authorities were initially concerned gang members had moved to other parts of the city to continue the confrontation elsewhere. Waco police have called this "the most violent scene" in years.
Early Monday authorities said more than 100 people had been detained as part of the police investigation.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna told KWTX-TV earlier this month that local police were on heightened alert in anticipation of trouble on Thursday nights, when Twin Peaks hosts a Biker Night. He said trouble between two local motorcycle gangs escalated when bikers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area became involved.
***UPDATES***
8:45pm CT: The brawl began in the bathroom with most likely a push, shove, or somebody looking at somebody wrong. That quickly escalated into a fistfight, which turned into a knife fight, which immediately turned into a gun fight. Waco police tell CBS the fight poured from the bathroom into the parking lot. Officers moved in to contain the brouhaha. Bikers fired at officers; officers returned fire.
--GANG FIGHTS WERE AN ISSUE AT TWIN PEAKS IN WACO: Sgt. Patrick Swanson of the Waco Police Department told CBS 11, "We feel like that they [Twin Peaks] did not take our advice and try to keep the bike groups from being here; they absolutely have a right to refuse service to people that may be a harm to their patrons and employees." Swanson reiterated, "They didn't do that, and today is the ultimate aftermath of what their decision was."
--MORE BIKER GANGS HEADED INTO WACO? According to Sgt. Swanson, "We have been getting reports throughout the day that bikers from out of state are headed this way. We would encourage them not to because we have plenty of space in our county jail to put them there."
8:00pm CT: Waco PD tells CBS 11 they have been having problems for last two months. Management at this Twin Peaks location has been uncooperative; police wanted them to refuse service to criminal biker gangs. Last week, police reached out to Twin Peaks national organization. Unclear what came from that conversation.
Waco PD says number of gangs involved has grown to five pic.twitter.com/WD30wVMinp
— Gabriel Roxas (@cbs11gabriel) May 18, 2015
Massive crime scene taped off around Waco Twin Peaks parking lot pic.twitter.com/MTgXbBtgwk
— Gabriel Roxas (@cbs11gabriel) May 17, 2015
Entire shopping center surrounding Twin Peaks closed. pic.twitter.com/gu9ecMxunR
— Gabriel Roxas (@cbs11gabriel) May 17, 2015
6:00pm CT: Most roads leading to Waco Twin Peaks crime scene closed.
Police with rifles drawn outside Harley Davidson near Waco Twin Peaks pic.twitter.com/VEToDG5XdP
— Gabriel Roxas (@cbs11gabriel) May 17, 2015
BREAKING: Waco PD calls this biker gang shooting "the most violent scene" in years. At least 100 weapons recovered. http://t.co/IitX1kFjLy
— KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) May 17, 2015
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