About 170 suspects are in custody after a deadly shootout between rival biker gang members left nine bikers dead and eighteen injured at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas on May 17, 2015. One crime scene investigator on the scene was reported as saying that this resulted in “one of most horrific crime scenes” in years.
Crime scene investigators from Waco are receiving assistance from federal, state, and county officers as they meticulously document the crime scene. The CSIs are doing their work under the threat of additional violence and were protected by snipers on overpasses and the restaurant’s roof on as they conducted their investigation on May 18.
Officers expect the crime scene processing to continue at least until dark on May 18. Subsequent work will include impounding about 100 motorcycles and many of the 50-75 vehicles in the parking lot of the restaurant. All of these vehicles could yield additional evidence connected to the grizzly crimes committed that day.
Before the shootings, law enforcement was expecting trouble and had 18 uniformed officers stationed outside the restaurant. They responded within seconds after violence broke out between the five rival biker gangs. As the police tried to stop the violence, the bikers fired on them. Law enforcement officers quickly returned fire, and the ballistic evidence of this altercation contributes to the complexity of analyzing the crime scene.
The work of the CSIs will be critical in identifying who the exact culprits are as investigators begin building a case against them. Although the Waco police declined to name the gangs to avoid giving them publicity, it is known that they included the Bandidos, Scimitars, Banditos, and Cossacks.
The suspects are being held in lieu of $1 million bonds, and the arrest warrants and affidavits totaled 511 pages. The 170 suspects face possible charges of capital murder given the number of victims. The crime scene investigation is expected to take weeks, if not months, to complete.