Biker gang's go SOA in Waco TX
Police said nine members of rival Texas motorcycle gangs were killed Sunday and 18 others were injured after a meeting to settle disputes over territory and recruitment degenerated into a brawl and shootout outside a Waco restaurant.
The violence erupted shortly after noon local time at a busy shopping center along Interstate 35 that was full of people, including families marking Baylor University's graduation this weekend. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton told the Associated Press eight people died at the scene of the shooting at a Twin Peaks restaurant and another person died at a hospital.
Authorities said that all those killed and injured belonged to one of at least five biker gangs who had gathered at the restaurant. The injuries suffered by victims included stabbing and gunshot wounds, with some being treated for both.
"This is probably one of the most gruesome crime scenes I've ever seen in my 34 years of law enforcement," Swanton said. "Within 25 feet there were families eating dinner ... I was amazed that we didn't have innocent civilians killed or injured."
Later Sunday, Swanton said that at least 100 people had been detained for questioning by police. It was not immediately clear if anyone had been charged.
Preliminary findings indicate a dispute broke out in a bathroom, escalated to include knives and firearms and eventually spilled into the restaurant parking lot, Swanton said. There were 150 to 200 gang members inside the restaurant at the time. Shots were fired inside and outside the restaurant, he said.
Swanton described the interior of the restaurant after a Sunday night walk-through, saying it was littered with bullet casings, knives, a club, bodies and pools of blood. Authorities would be working the rest of the night to process the reams of evidence, he said.
The Dallas Morning News reported that chains, brass knuckles, and clubs were also used in addition to knives and guns.
Police were aware of the meeting in advance, Swanton said, and at least 12 Waco police officers in addition to state troopers were outside the restaurant, part of a national chain that features scantily clad waitresses, when the fight began.
Swanton said that officers shot armed bikers, which he said may have prevented further deaths. It was not known if any of the nine dead were killed by police officers.
"We've been made aware in the past few months of rival biker gangs ... being here and causing issues," Swanton said. He said that the restaurant's operators also were aware of the meeting in advance, and he described the management as uncooperative with authorities in addressing concerns.
"Apparently the management (of Twin Peaks) wanted them here and so we didn't have any say-so on whether they could be here or not," Swanton said.
A statement sent Sunday night on behalf of Jay Patel, operating partner for the Waco franchise, said, "Our management team has had ongoing and positive communications with the police," and added that the restaurant was cooperating with the investigation.
Swanton addressed Patel's statement late Sunday night, calling it a "fabrication."
Rick Van Warner, a spokesman for the Dallas-based corporate franchisor, said the company is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the shooting and is "seriously considering revoking" the Waco location's franchise agreement.
Van Warner said he couldn't address what the franchise owners "did or didn't do leading up to this," but added that the company is "very upset that clearly our standards of safety and security were not upheld in this particular case," he said.
Doug Greeness, a biker from Belton, Texas, was near the scene Sunday evening. He said he's a member of a family riding club and was waiting for friends to be released from custody so he could return home.
Greeness, who was not inside the restaurant when the melee broke out, described the event as a meeting of a biker association called the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents. He said the group meets to "discuss issues within the biker community."
Officers with numerous law enforcement agencies were seen parked along the service road for I-35 near the city and were stationed in several points in downtown Waco around the local convention center. Swanton said authorities are increasing security in the area to prevent further violence among the gangs.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the hospital where most of the injured were taken was briefly sealed off by police in an effort to prevent the possibility of more violence.
"You could not get into the entrance unless you were having a heart attack or having a baby or in an ambulance," one woman told the paper. Officers searched everyone entering the hospital for weapons and moved relatives of the injured bikers to a separate waiting area.
Swanton told reporters that police had received information that more bikers were on their way to Waco late Sunday in response to the shootout.
"I would encourage them not to [come here]," Swanton said. "Because we have plenty of space in our county jail."
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