9 dead in motorcyle gang gunfight at Texas restaurant

[jimmy olsen]

Now that is some Wild West bullshit right there. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/17/waco-gang-shooting/27493915/

9 dead in motorcyle gang gunfight at Texas restaurant

Nine motorcycle gang members were killed Sunday when a gunfight broke out between three rival gangs at a restaurant in Waco, Texas, police said.

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton confirmed "multiple fatalities" in the shootout at Twin Peaks Restaurant shortly after noon. Eighteen people were transferred to local hospitals with gunshot and stab wounds, KCEN-TV reported.

Remarkably, Swanton said, all of the dead or injured were "members of criminal biker gangs." Bystanders at the shopping center and a nearby restaurant — as well as police present when the shootout spilled into the parking lot — were "all unscathed," he said.

One officer at the scene was hospitalized due to a "heat-related issue," not an injury, he said.

"Fortunately, none of our officers, nor any of our innocent civilians, were injured in this melee here today," he said.

Swanton said police expected to recover about 100 weapons from the crime scene — one of the worst he'd ever encountered.

The initial fight, he said, began in the Twin Peaks restroom. He told KWTX-TV that the fight quickly escalated from fists and feet to chains, clubs and knives, then to gunfire.

Swanton said police knew there could be trouble at the restaurant, as they'd learned that a gang "recruitment" event was taking place at Twin Peaks. He said police tried to keep the gathering from happening, but that restaurant management refused to cooperate.

"What happened here today could have been avoided if we'd had management at a local establishment listen to their police department and assist us," he said. "They failed to do that and this is the event, what happened."

He said police in the parking lot were fired upon and returned fire. Law enforcement may well have inflicted some of the injuries or deaths, he said, but he added that until the investigation is complete he couldn't be sure. "Obviously, we've got a long way to go on this crime scene behind us."

On its Facebook page earlier in the afternoon, the Waco Police Department advised residents to "avoid the Central Texas Market Place as the area is NOT safe. Officers are continuing to arrest individuals coming to the scene with weapons." It added, "This is not the time to sight see as we are dealing with very dangerous individuals."

A witness at the nearby Don Carlos Mexican Restaurant told KWTX he and his family walked into the parking lot between the restaurants when they heard several gunshots and saw wounded being taken from the fight scene. "We crouched down in front of our pick-up truck because that was the only cover we had," the man, who asked not to be identified, said.

[grumbler]

Twin Peaks:  still causing bar fights, 25 years later. 

[Eddie Teach]

Remarkably, Swanton said, all of the dead or injured were "members of criminal biker gangs." Bystanders at the shopping center and a nearby restaurant — as well as police present when the shootout spilled into the parking lot — were "all unscathed," he said.[/b]

Too bad NY cops aren't as good shots as Texas bikers.

[dps]

Twin Peaks:  still causing bar fights, 25 years later. 

David Lynch has much to answer for.

[jimmy olsen]

Seems there were five gangs on the scene. I bet there will be a movie in the works for this in few years.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-texas-biker-gang-shooting-20150517-story.html

Swanton said at least five rival gangs gathered at Twin Peaks for a meeting that he said focused on turf and recruitment, two areas where the groups have often clashed. Preliminary findings indicate a dispute broke out in a bathroom and then spilled into the restaurant where it escalated to include knives and firearms, he said. There were 150 to 200 gang members inside the restaurant at the time.

[Razgovory]

Wow, that might be a record for felony murder charges.

[Caliga]

I guess that must have been a sight to see.

[sbr]

https://twitter.com/KashannKilson/status/600132963410415617

[Berkut]

If only some of the law abiding citizens were armed as well, this could have been avoided.

[grumbler]

If only some of the law abiding citizens were armed as well, this could have been avoided.

They could have stood their ground.

[Berkut]

Actually, it raises a important question, in this current reality of the Obama police state and federal attempts to subvert Texas.

Can we even be sure that the police intervention was legal, or necessary?

How do we know that in fact some of the people shot and killed by the police were not simply gang members standing their ground legally protecting themselves from the other people legally standing their ground?

All these people dead, many more injured, and in a free and 2nd Amendment protected state like Texas, it is entirely likely that this entire thing was actually completely legal - just a large number of people all standing their ground against other people legally standing THEIR ground.

I mean, I suppose there might have been one criminal initially, maybe even just a misdeamenor petty assault charge that some god fearing gun toting citizen legally stood his ground against...

[Warspite]

This has to become a film.

[garbon]

What's so special about this? Shootouts between motorcycle gangs are hardly unheard of.

[grumbler]

What's so special about this? Shootouts between motorcycle gangs are hardly unheard of.

They stood their ground and foiled the Obamateur Administration.

[jimmy olsen]

What's so special about this? Shootouts between motorcycle gangs are hardly unheard of.

With nine killed and eighteen hospitalized? When was the last time a shootout that bloody that happened?