re: Biker Shootout at the Twin Peaks in Waco, TX

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WACO, Texas -- When gunfire erupted in the parking lot of a Texas restaurant, most of the leather-clad motorcycle riders watching the confrontation from the patio or inside immediately ran away from the shooting. A few tried to direct people to safety, crawling on all fours heading for cover.

One biker ran away with blood on his face, hands and torso. A woman could be heard screaming, "Oh my God!" Others yelled, "Get down!"

Restaurant security video reviewed exclusively by The Associated Press showed only one of the dozens of bikers recorded was seen firing a gun from the patio of the Twin Peaks restaurantwhere nine people were killed.

None of the nine video angles shows the parking lot.

Many of the bikers on tape are likely to have been arrested by Waco police, who rounded up about 170 people, charged them with felony engaging in organized criminal activity and set their bonds at $1 million.

Police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton declined to comment about the video Wednesday. Swanton has said the people arrested were members of biker gangs with criminal elements that have been monitored by local authorities for months.

"They were not here to drink and eat barbecue," Swanton said earlier this week. "They came here with violence in mind."

The video shows bikers on the restaurant patio Sunday, ducking under tables and trying to get inside. At least three people were holding handguns.

Before the shooting, the inside of the restaurant appears to be mostly empty. Bikers and other patrons can be seen walking to the windows facing the parking lot, where most of the shooting happened, when the confrontation was apparently underway.

When gunshots start at 12:24 p.m. on the video, most bikers, other patrons and staff immediately run away from the windows and into the restaurant's interior.

One camera angle shows bikers running into the men's bathroom. When there's no space left in the bathroom, they dash toward the kitchen.

The AP was shown the video Wednesday by representatives of the Twin Peaks franchise, who have said the fighting began outside the restaurant, not inside as police have said. The franchise has not released the video publicly, citing the ongoing investigation.

Video footage shows police with assault rifles entering the door about two minutes after the shooting begins. As two officers enter, bikers can be seen lying on the floor with their hands spread.

Before the shooting, at least 20 members of the Cossacks biker gang can be seen on the patio. Members of the Scimitars, Boozefighters and Leathernecks can also be seen on the tape. While no Bandidos are immediately visible, police and one member of that biker gang have said some of their members were at the event.

Among those arrested was Theron Rhoten, who showed up at the Twin Peaks restaurant for a regional motorcycle club meeting. But, according to his wife, he soon found himself in the middle of a deadly shootout involving scores of other bikers.

Katie Rhoten said her husband ran for cover and was later arrested, along with motorcycle-riding friends and other "nonviolent, noncriminal people."

Police have said that all those arrested were part of criminal motorcycle gangs, but only five of the nine people killed had criminal histories in Texas, based on court records and a search of their names in a database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Police have acknowledged firing on armed bikers, but it is not clear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many were shot by officers.

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But yet they're all in jail with $1,000,000.00 bail.

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WACO, Texas -- When gunfire erupted in the parking lot of a Texas restaurant, most of the leather-clad motorcycle riders watching the confrontation from the patio or inside immediately ran away from the shooting. A few tried to direct people to safety, crawling on all fours heading for cover.

One biker ran away with blood on his face, hands and torso. A woman could be heard screaming, "Oh my God!" Others yelled, "Get down!"

Restaurant security video reviewed exclusively by The Associated Press showed only one of the dozens of bikers recorded was seen firing a gun from the patio of the Twin Peaks restaurantwhere nine people were killed.

None of the nine video angles shows the parking lot.

Many of the bikers on tape are likely to have been arrested by Waco police, who rounded up about 170 people, charged them with felony engaging in organized criminal activity and set their bonds at $1 million.

Police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton declined to comment about the video Wednesday. Swanton has said the people arrested were members of biker gangs with criminal elements that have been monitored by local authorities for months.

"They were not here to drink and eat barbecue," Swanton said earlier this week. "They came here with violence in mind."

The video shows bikers on the restaurant patio Sunday, ducking under tables and trying to get inside. At least three people were holding handguns.

Before the shooting, the inside of the restaurant appears to be mostly empty. Bikers and other patrons can be seen walking to the windows facing the parking lot, where most of the shooting happened, when the confrontation was apparently underway.

When gunshots start at 12:24 p.m. on the video, most bikers, other patrons and staff immediately run away from the windows and into the restaurant's interior.

One camera angle shows bikers running into the men's bathroom. When there's no space left in the bathroom, they dash toward the kitchen.

The AP was shown the video Wednesday by representatives of the Twin Peaks franchise, who have said the fighting began outside the restaurant, not inside as police have said. The franchise has not released the video publicly, citing the ongoing investigation.

Video footage shows police with assault rifles entering the door about two minutes after the shooting begins. As two officers enter, bikers can be seen lying on the floor with their hands spread.

Before the shooting, at least 20 members of the Cossacks biker gang can be seen on the patio. Members of the Scimitars, Boozefighters and Leathernecks can also be seen on the tape. While no Bandidos are immediately visible, police and one member of that biker gang have said some of their members were at the event.

Among those arrested was Theron Rhoten, who showed up at the Twin Peaks restaurant for a regional motorcycle club meeting. But, according to his wife, he soon found himself in the middle of a deadly shootout involving scores of other bikers.

Katie Rhoten said her husband ran for cover and was later arrested, along with motorcycle-riding friends and other "nonviolent, noncriminal people."

Police have said that all those arrested were part of criminal motorcycle gangs, but only five of the nine people killed had criminal histories in Texas, based on court records and a search of their names in a database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Police have acknowledged firing on armed bikers, but it is not clear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many were shot by officers.

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I can highlight stuff too...

What can be understood is that a bunch of bikers were at Twin Peaks. There are bikers on video with guns. Shots were fired.

Some more that does not add up...

Cops are claiming...

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A gun stuffed inside a bag of tortilla chips. Weapons wedged between bags of flour. A handgun left in a toilet.

Days after a massive shootout left nine bikers dead, police are finding more evidence and clues about what happened at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas.

Among them: More than 300 weapons left behind. And some bikers may have stashed away even more, police said.

"These were vicious criminals that knew that they were in trouble, and they were trying to dispose of evidence," Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.

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Ok. But then there's this....

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Restaurant security camera footage showing Sunday's events is now in the hands of investigators, a representative for the Waco Twin Peaks said Wednesday. The video shows that "no violence started inside the restaurant," the franchise said in a statement.

"What happened inside the restaurant was that people sought safety inside, where they assisted each other and came to the aid of patrons, staff and management," the statement said.

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And then there is this....

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Video footage shows police with assault rifles entering the door about two minutes after the shooting begins. As two officers enter, bikers can be seen lying on the floor with their hands spread.

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Keep in mind according to the cops, they responded to the fight within about 30 seconds of it breaking out. And they're inside Twin Peaks within about a minute and a half of the start of this fight. So if the video shows everyone ducking for cover and helping others take cover, and the cops were inside that quick, how did so many have time, while bullets are flying everywhere mind you, to go hide their weapons? And being that there were something like nine cameras covering the inside of Twin Peaks, why is it that all was caught on those cameras was people taking cover? Surely if that many people were in there trying to hide weapons at least one camera would have caught it.

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Guess if the cops even see you on a scoot in Waco you're liable to being taken down by a sniper.

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That's a stretch to get that out of that article. They made a simple request (not demand) that doesn't seem unreasonable in order to help maintain peace in light of what happened. I'm sure if you're lawfully riding down the road you're not gonna get sniped.

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The initial report when the cops first got on scene was 50 weapons. This was before they processed the crime scene, which took nearly 3 whole days. It was such a large crime scene involving so many thugs that they had to close the entire marketplace on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Once they began their investigation the number rose. How this is not comprehended by you is amazing. heck, they even found a gun someone tried to flush down the toilet.

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Yeah, I don't get that some don't understand they were trying to give estimates, not actual numbers. The smarter thing might have been to just stay silent. I think I did read an article last night where he did get hard numbers from the crime scene guys and said so far they have 117 or something guns. They had not started counting the other "weapons" such as clubs and what not.

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Th irony. Talking about freedom (or lack of it) when all this shite was started over the lack of freedom to wear what you want or ride where you want. How come I don't hear as much disdain for the Bandidos being so damn oppressive over what others are wearing on their vest? America right?

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You bring up a good point and one I agree with you on. And it's one of my biggest problems with the politics of the MC world. A lot of problems would be gone overnight if clubs would stop worrying about what patches other clubs wear.

OK, we get it. You don't like bikers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter.

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Seems legit.

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How many have been shot by snipers since Sunday? That many huh?

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Booze fighters

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The ones here work for the Outlaws. They're getting uppity.