Our management team has had ongoing and positive communications with the police and we will continue to work with them as we all want to keep violent crime out of our businesses and community. Our priority is to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for our customers and employees, and we consider the police our partners in doing so. We are horrified by the criminal, violent acts that occurred outside of our Waco restaurant today. The operating partner for the restaurant, Jay Patel, posted a statement on Facebook: He said two local motorcycle gangs were feuding and it spilled over as others from the Dallas-Fort Worth area came to Waco to support the local gangs. He said police were on heightened alert because of incidents during Biker Night on Thursdays. Local District Attorney Abel Reyna told KWTX about two weeks ago that trouble between rival bikers had been brewing at Twin Peaks for some time. “These are very dangerous, hostile criminal biker gangs.” “A lot of innocent people could have been injured today,” Swanton said. "A lot of innocent people could've been hurt today… There may have been more that could've been done by a business" “Apparently the management wanted them here, so we didn’t have any say so on whether they could be here or not,” Swanton said. Patrick Swanton told the Waco Tribune, “Management knew that there were issues, and we were here, but they continued to let those groups of people into their business.” Police said the Twin Peaks restaurant could have done more to prevent the violence. “That tells you the kind of level of people we’re dealing with.” And it mattered not to them,” Swanton said at a news conference, which was posted online by KXXV. They knew we were here, they knew that we’ve been here at their past events. More than 100 weapons were recovered at the scene. Swanton said the argument started over a parking issue.
Police said there were at least 100 bikers at the scene and at least five gangs involved. “There were so many rounds fired from bad guy weapons here.” “Let’s just say it’s Sunday and someone was looking out for us,” Swanton said.
Patrick Swanton said innocent bystanders and officers somehow managed to escape injury, including a restaurant full of families just feet away from the one where the shooting started. The extent of those injuries wasn’t immediately released. At least 18 others were, also all bikers, were injured. Police told KXXV-TV that all of the victims were gang members who had gathered at the Twin Peaks restaurant. One officer called the shootout between the rival gangs “one of the worst gun fights that we’ve had in the city limits of Waco.” The Waco Shootout Was Called ‘One of the Worst Gun Fights’ in the City’s HistoryĪ Waco police officer leads a biker away from the scene of a shooting that left at least 9 dead and several others wounded. You can tell by the number of weapons involved that these guys came looking for a fight. The Bandidos already knew that the Cossacks weren’t going to play ball, and when push came to shove and these guys weren’t cooperating, all hell broke loose. “If I’m a Bandido, my immediate reaction is: ‘These guys are going to try to make a move and bring an international gang into our state, which is going to cause a war.'” “My perception is that the Cossacks have been flirting, if you will, with Hell’s Angels,” Cook told the Post. Other gangs joined the battle with the Cossacks because they were angry over recent killings by the Bandidos. The expert, Kansas City-area police officer Steve Cook, said the feud started because the Cossacks, backed by the Angels, challenged the Bandidos for control of Texas. Ī gang expert told the Washington Post that the gang shootout parallels previous fights between the Bandidos and the Hells Angels, the main rival of the Bandidos and one of the world’s largest biker gangs. Police report multiple fatalities in Waco, Texas, shooting Police have confirmed at least nine people were killed in a shooting in Waco, Texas.