Nine motorcycle gang members were
killed and numerous other people were injured in a confrontation
involving up to 200 rival gang members — followed by a shootout with
police — at a sports bar in Waco, Texas, that wanted the bikers there,
police said Sunday.
Waco police Sgt. Patrick
Swanton said "at least five different criminal motorcycle gangs" were
at Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill, in the busy Central Texas Market
Place less than a half-mile from University High School.
"It progressed very
rapidly from hands and feet as weapons to chains," he said. "My
understanding is a club was involved, and knives were involved. Gunfire
broke out on the part of the criminal biker gangs."
Police, who had been
expecting trouble, had been already deployed to the scene, which Swanton
described as part recruiting event and partly gang members showing they
were unafraid in other gangs' territory. So when the rumble began
shortly after noon 12:15 p.m. (1:15 p.m. ET), they were ready to move
in.
The violence spilled out
of the restaurant and into the parking lot, where, Swanton said, the
bikers fired first at one another and then at the police.
"They started have
shooting at our officers, and our officers returned fire, taking several
of them down," Swanton said. "I'm amazed at the number of rounds fired.
I'm amazed we did not have innocent civilians killed or injured."
Swanton said that the gunplay was over in a "matter of seconds" and that a SWAT officer told him, "It was mass chaos."
"Never had he seen anything like that," Swanton said.
Eight people were killed
at the scene, and a ninth died at a hospital, Swanton said, adding that
18 people were taken to hospitals with gunshot and knife wounds, some
with both.
He said probably near 100 weapons — including brass knuckles, chains, clubs and firearms — were strewn across the crime scene.
Swanton refused to name the bikers gangs involved, saying he wouldn't give "name recognition" to "criminal organizations."
Swanton had trouble
containing his anger at the restaurant's management during a briefing
for reporters Sunday afternoon, saying that the management not only knew
biker gangs congregated at the bar but that it actively encouraged
their business.
"We have attempted to
work with the local management of Twin Peaks to get that cut back, to no
avail," Swanton said. "They have been of no assistance. ... Apparently,
the management wanted them here."
"Are we frustrated?" he
asked. "Sure, because we feel that there was more that could have been
by the management. Now we have nine individuals that are dead."
Swanton added that the
national office of Twin Peaks, a Hooters-like chain of restaurants
featuring scantily clad waitresses, also refused to cooperate.
A spokesman for the
Dallas-based chain, which describes itself "the ultimate sports lodge
known for its rugged man-cave atmosphere and playful Twin Peaks Girls,"
said the Waco restaurant is an individually owned franchise. 
"We were shocked by the
shootings that took place in the parking lot of our franchised
restaurant in Waco and are fully reviewing all the circumstances
surrounding it," the chain said in an emailed statement. "We are
thankful no employees, guests or police were injured in this senseless
violence outside the restaurant, and our sympathies are with the
families of those killed."
Swanton said it was
miraculous there were no injuries to bystanders in the parking lot or at
a crowded restaurant 25 feet away from Twin Peaks.
"Let's say it's Sunday
and someone was looking out for us," he said. "So many rounds were fired
by bad-guy weapons, it's amazing no innocent civilians were injured."
Other bikers were said
to be converging on Waco, Swanton said. He said witnesses were being
moved to secure locations, and he encouraged other bikers to stay away.
"We have plenty of space
in our county jail, and we'll do everything we can to get them there,"
Swanton said. "There's a large contingent of law enforcement that is
here and ready to deal with those individuals. "We're not going to put up with it in Waco."
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