Bikers put out 'green light' against officers following Waco shooting





Scroll through the gallery to see the first faces that have surfaced in connection to the shooting. less More than 170 biker gang members were arrested May 17, 2015, for their involvement in a bloody shooting at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that left nine dead and 18 injured.



Scroll through the gallery to see ... more More than 170 biker gang members were arrested May 17, 2015, for their involvement in a bloody shooting at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that left nine dead and 18 injured. Image 1 of / 344 Caption Close Bikers put out 'green light' against officers following Waco shooting 1 / 344 Back to Gallery

WACO - One day after a wild biker brawl and clash with police that left nine men dead, 18 wounded and about 170 under arrest for engaging in organized crime, this Central Texas town was still on guard.

State troopers and police carrying military-style rifles were guarding a sprawling outdoor mall that includes Twin Peaks, a risque chain tavern where chaos broke out Sunday afternoon when five gangs suddenly squared off.

A fight that broke out in the men's room and then quickly spilled into the bar area and parking lot turned deadly with rival bikers attacking each other and then squaring off against Waco Police who rushed inside the restaurant on the southern edge of the city.

As police rounded up the bikers and night soon fell, intelligence reports indicated that more bikers were on the way here and that officers had been "green lighted" - essentially a gang sanctioned call for killing - as retaliation.

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"We are on high alert," Waco Police Sgt. Patrick Swanton said. "We encourage those individuals not to bring criminal activity to Waco. But let it be known, if they do, we are ready."

In the wake of the shooting, about 100 high end motorcycles remained parked outside Twin Peaks and inside the crime scene. Several bikes as well as vehicles, including police cars, had bullet holes punched into them. Some of the bikes also had blood.

Authorities said the investigation continues and it is not yet known whether police killed any of the bikers or if they were killed by other bikers. It is also unclear if police have obtained surveillance camera footage from inside the restaurant that would show what happened.

Waco Police, Texas Rangers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, as well as FBI agents and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, remained on the scene heavily armed with military-style rifles and other weaponry. There also appeared to be officers clad in ghillie suits on the roof of the Twin Peaks restaurants.

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Buildings in Waco such as the courthouse, hospital, jail, convention center and the shopping mall were all under guard by police.

The exit off of Interstate 35 to the vicinity of the restaurant was closed, causing backups for traffic. Red and blue police lights could be seen in the distance as officers blocked all entrances and exits to the area.

Police said that Twin Peaks repeatedly had declined advice to clean up their clientele and stop letting biker gang members "fly their colors" as the environment was a tinderbox for worse things to come.

A spokeswoman with a public relations firm working with the eatery chain said law enforcement officials did not ask the restaurant to cancel what she said was a "patio reservation" made for Sunday.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission ordered the restaurant closed for seven days. The Twin Peaks corporate office then revoked the franchise rights for the Waco restaurant, located in the Central Texas Marketplace outdoor mall.

"There was enough of a reason to believe violence could occur there," Swanton said in the parking lot outside the restaurant.

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The restaurant opened last August and Waco police say it has since been the scene of several biker gang gatherings.

Longtime Waco resident Marvis Hanchey sipped coffee and watched from a nearby Starbucks inside the stereotypically suburban shopping center where Sunday's violence played out.

Hanchey said she was perplexed why incidents like the biker shooting and the Branch Davidian siege a generation ago occurred in otherwise sleepy Waco.

"It happened on the highway which goes through Waco, which is what most people do on their way from Austin to Dallas," Hanchey said. "I don't think this is anything to do with Waco. I don't know why it happens here."

Outside the restaurant there were dozens of motorcycles still left parked side-by-side from Sunday.

Swanton said those arrested are being booked into the McLennan County jail and other charges, such as capital murder, could be in the works as authorities sort out the case.

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At least five different motorcycle gangs were involved, he said. Among those named so far are the Bandidos and the Cossacks gangs, which both had members killed, according to the sheriff, although other law enforcement declined to comment on the gang affiliations of the dead in order to not lend the gangs any notoriety.

Larry Karson, who teaches criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown, said that the violence is very much part of the business of criminal motorcycle groups..

"As with any business, territory is critical to both membership and marketing," Karson said. "If a second competing motorcycle club were allowed access to Texas for example, that would impact a Texas-based club's efforts at recruiting new members as well as challenging their customer base for providing any product or service they might be providing, be it drugs or prostitution for example," he said. "Not to mention any personal insult perceived."