WACO: (May 17, 2015) Rival motorcycle gangs turned a local restaurant into a shooting gallery Sunday afternoon and when the gunfire was over, nine people were dead and 17 were injured..
Waco police Sunday afternoon, assisted by Department of Public Safety troopers, police officers from several cities and deputies from the McLennan County Sheriff's Office were surrounding the Twin Peaks Restaurant, in the Central Texas Market Place after several people were reported shot during a rival motorcycle gang fight, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said.
Police initially said three gangs were involved, but later said factions from at least five gangs took part in the melee.
Police and troopers were in the parking lot trying to secure the area and protect citizens when a fight broke out inside the restaurant and spilled into the parking lot.
Swanton said the fight quickly escalated from fists and feet to chains, clubs and knives, then to gunfire.
Gang members were shooting at each other and officers at the scene fired their weapons, as well, Swanton said.
Other patrons in Twin Peaks and some employees locked themselves in a freezer to escape the fight.
The scene at the Market Place between Don Carlos and Twin Peaks was absolute chaos, Swanton said.
"It is one of the most violent scene I've seen in my 34 years as a police officer in Waco," Swanton said.
