Waco shootout: how a friendly Sunday get-together ended in a biker bloodbath
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Version 0 of 1. It was billed as a friendly Sunday afternoon get-together for central Texas bikers, a chance to discuss legislation, lobbying and cooperation. It ended with bodies strewn in a strip mall parking lot, a Texas county jail crammed with men on $1m bail and dozens of police combing a complex scene where gang violence erupted in a mundane suburban shopping centre, thrusting a criminal subculture out of the shadows. The exact genesis of the fight that killed nine people, injured 18 and led to 170 arrests is still unclear. As dozens of bikes filled the parking area outside Waco’s Twin Peaks bar-restaurant, police say someone’s foot was run over. Or maybe a fight began in the bathroom. There may have been a “parking incident”. The brawl could have been linked to a long-running dispute between rival gangs, rooted in a turf war and the perceived disrespect to the dominant Bandidos of an upstart organization called the Cossacks who sewed the word “Texas” on patches on the back of their vests without permission. Media and police, struggling to get straight answers from gang members with codes of silence and contempt for law enforcement, have pointed to all of the above as possible origins of the shootout. The Dallas-area news station WFAA obtained a 1 May Texas department of public safety bulletin which said that “violence between members of the Bandidos OMG [outlaw motorcycle gang] and the Cossacks MC [motorcycle club] has increased in Texas with no indication of diminishing … The conflict may stem from Cossacks members refusing to pay Bandidos dues for operating in Texas and for claiming Texas as their territory by wearing the Texas bottom rocker on their vests.” Bikers arrived at Twin Peaks, a Hooters-style restaurant staffed by scantily clad women beside two freeways in southern Waco, around noon last Sunday ahead of a meeting of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents set for 1pm. The publicly scheduled gathering of central Texas biker groups large and small, menacing and mild, takes place every couple of months and is advertised on the internet. The next is scheduled for 26 July. A dispute began soon after midday. Police said it spilled into the bar, bathroom, restaurant and parking lot. Eighteen of Waco’s most experienced police officers, as well as several state troopers, were stationed in nearby driveways and parking lots before the meeting in anticipation of potential tension. The officers descended on the restaurant within seconds, a police spokesman said. Police believe that bikers first started shooting at each other, then at officers, who say they returned fire. Three to four officers are believed to have fired their weapons. It’s still unclear how many police officers shot at the bikers and whether they killed any of them; with the investigation and crime scene analysis ongoing, police are unable to explain an exact series of events as they unfolded. The shootout led to 170 arrests on charges of “engaging in organized criminal activity” linked to capital murder, which in Texas can carry the death penalty. The numbers at Twin Peaks would have been even higher but for bad traffic on Interstate 35 which meant some coming from Austin were late arriving. Though many at the site were heavily armed, some bikers insisted that the violence was perpetrated by a minority of extremists who are not representative of groups that are more like social clubs than criminal gangs. A statement from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists said it and its “local affiliates are dedicated to peacefully promoting and protecting constitutional rights, promoting fair treatment of its members by law enforcement, educating its members on current laws, open and peaceful communications between clubs, conflict mediation, and supporting various charitable endeavors. We are grieving.” The statement claimed the attacks started when “immediately prior to the start of a Texas affiliate’s monthly meeting, a motorcycle club that was NOT a member of the Confederation of Clubs [thought to be the Cossacks] arrived with over 50 people and attacked members of the Confederation.” Related: Waco shootout: who are the Bandidos motorcycle gang? The fight left a blood-soaked scene littered with almost 100 weapons, extending from inside the restaurant to the parking lot. Even as late as Tuesday afternoon, police said, high-calibre guns were being found during searches of vehicles. Knives, chains, brass knuckles and bats were also among weapons recovered. The dead men were aged from 27 to 65 and all appeared to be members of the Cossacks or Bandidos. They were all shot to death in the head, neck or torso, according to a preliminary autopsy report. Most were from north Texas, with only one from Waco. Twin Peaks is now permanently closed, its franchise license revoked. Police and the restaurant’s owners disputed whether management worked with police to minimize the threat. Some nearby shops in the Central Texas MarketPlace have also remained closed, while Waco residents delivered food and coffee to detectives working long shifts at the heavily guarded scene, police said. A nearby Harley Davidson dealership was also still shut on Tuesday. “We have blood on the inside of Twin Peaks as well as numerous pieces of evidence, both inside and out,” said the Waco police spokesman, Sergeant W Patrick Swanton. “It is a lengthy process for those investigating to attempt to determine exactly what occurred.” Police believe the investigation could take months. The sheer number of arrests has also put the local justice system under strain. Three Austin-area bikers arrested on Sunday were released on bonds as low as $20,000 thanks to an apparent administrative error, before their bail was revoked and they were taken back into custody on Tuesday afternoon. All others arrested on Sunday had bond set at $1m. One of the suspects is a retired San Antonio police detective. The chaos has also brought to the forefront the growing presence of bike gangs in Texas, where experts say the most violent was present – the Texas-based Bandidos. The Bandidos, Cossacks and Scimitars all had a presence at the meeting. The US Department of Justice considers the Bandidos an “outlaw motorcycle gang” that traffics marijuana and cocaine, and is expanding by forming “duck” or “puppet” clubs that swear allegiance to another chapter. The DoJ believes the gang has roughly 900 members in 93 chapters in the US, and 2,500 members in 13 countries. In Texas, the gangs are considered as serious a threat as the Aryan Brotherhood, Bloods and Crips. “I will tell you that in the gang world and in the biker world, that violence usually condones more violence,” Swanton told reporters on Tuesday. “Is this over? Most likely not. We would like it to be. We would ask that there be some type of truce between whatever biker gangs are involved.” Now, as Memorial Day weekend approaches, Waco’s police remain on heightened alert, fearful that Sunday’s carnage was only the opening battle in what may be a long war and worried that they also might now be targets when those who remain at large seek retribution. |