As many as 1,000 weapons were found at the Waco restaurant where nine bikers were killed during a mass fight between rival motorcycle gangs, police said on Wednesday.
Investigators recovered items ranging from pocket knives to an AK-47 rifle, Waco police spokesman Sgt Patrick Swanton told the Guardian. Gang members rushed to get rid of their weapons, he said, as gunfire erupted and police moved in to the Twin Peaks restaurant in the south of the city last Sunday.
They were found “stuffed in toilets and hidden under seats,” he said. One firearm was discovered in a bag of tortilla chips, while a knife was located in a bag of flour. Brass knuckles, bats and chains were also unearthed.
Swanton said that the inside of Twin Peaks was a “pretty nasty scene” with “blood spatter everywhere”, especially in the bathroom.
Related: Waco shootout: how a friendly Sunday get-together ended in a biker bloodbath
The figure of 1,000 is a significant upgrade from previous police estimates of one or two hundred weapons. Police are unsure of the precise number of people who were at Twin Peaks for a scheduled meeting of gangs and clubs to discuss legislative issues, but in addition to the nine shooting deaths, 18 were injured and 170 arrested. It remains unclear how many were shot by police.
Attorneys for some of those booked into the county jail on $1m bonds have told reporters that their clients were innocent bystanders with no connection to criminal activity, but Swanton defended the mass arrests and said that the number of weapons demonstrated that the event was not planned as a harmless gathering.
Swanton also dismissed the suggestion that police might have been able to prevent the violence by stopping and searching those entering Twin Peaks.
“We have to abide by civil rights,” he said.
Anticipating a tense encounter based on intelligence which suggested rising hostilities between the Bandidos and Cossacks gangs, wa22 officers were in the vicinity of the restaurant before trouble erupted.
With fears of imminent reprisals from gang members receding but not ruled out, Swanton declined to say if Waco police are putting in special plans to patrol potential flash points such as bars and restaurants for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Dozens of investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies have been collecting evidence, analysing and securing the crime scene since Sunday, but police activity there was close to being wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon.
Several officers and vehicles and a line of yellow crime scene tape at the parking lot entrance remained, and the restaurant was still closed, but the lot was clear of cars, trucks and motorbikes and adjacent roads and stores in the shopping centre had reopened.
Investigators recovered items ranging from pocket knives to an AK-47 rifle, Waco police spokesman Sgt Patrick Swanton told the Guardian. Gang members rushed to get rid of their weapons, he said, as gunfire erupted and police moved in to the Twin Peaks restaurant in the south of the city last Sunday.
They were found “stuffed in toilets and hidden under seats,” he said. One firearm was discovered in a bag of tortilla chips, while a knife was located in a bag of flour. Brass knuckles, bats and chains were also unearthed.
Swanton said that the inside of Twin Peaks was a “pretty nasty scene” with “blood spatter everywhere”, especially in the bathroom.
Related: Waco shootout: how a friendly Sunday get-together ended in a biker bloodbath
The figure of 1,000 is a significant upgrade from previous police estimates of one or two hundred weapons. Police are unsure of the precise number of people who were at Twin Peaks for a scheduled meeting of gangs and clubs to discuss legislative issues, but in addition to the nine shooting deaths, 18 were injured and 170 arrested. It remains unclear how many were shot by police.
Attorneys for some of those booked into the county jail on $1m bonds have told reporters that their clients were innocent bystanders with no connection to criminal activity, but Swanton defended the mass arrests and said that the number of weapons demonstrated that the event was not planned as a harmless gathering.
Swanton also dismissed the suggestion that police might have been able to prevent the violence by stopping and searching those entering Twin Peaks.
“We have to abide by civil rights,” he said.
Anticipating a tense encounter based on intelligence which suggested rising hostilities between the Bandidos and Cossacks gangs, wa22 officers were in the vicinity of the restaurant before trouble erupted.
With fears of imminent reprisals from gang members receding but not ruled out, Swanton declined to say if Waco police are putting in special plans to patrol potential flash points such as bars and restaurants for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Dozens of investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies have been collecting evidence, analysing and securing the crime scene since Sunday, but police activity there was close to being wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon.
Several officers and vehicles and a line of yellow crime scene tape at the parking lot entrance remained, and the restaurant was still closed, but the lot was clear of cars, trucks and motorbikes and adjacent roads and stores in the shopping centre had reopened.
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