Waco, Texas, Biker Shooting: What Caused Shootout At Twin Peaks Restaurant?

Biker gangs that had congregated at a Waco, Texas Twin Peaks restaurant Sunday opened fired on each other in the parking lot leaving nine dead and 18 injured.

Waco Biker Shooting

Initial reports about the biker shooting claimed that the skirmish had started inside before making its way into the parking lot, where guns were drawn and shots fired. However, new witness reports claim that the fight started over a parking spot, according to the Dallas Morning News. 

“It’s like the Wild West,” McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara told the paper. “These guys become very violent to each other very quickly over nothing.”

In addition to the parking spot theory, there’s also the possibility that the fight broke out because of an ongoing turf war between the Bandidos gang and the Cossacks gang. The Bandidos, one of the largest outlaw motorcycle groups in the country, claims Texas as its turf, not allowing any other gangs to claim the territory on the areas of leather vests called the “bottom rocker” with a state patch.

“The Cossacks decided they were big enough and strong enough [to wear the Texas bottom rocker],” former Bandidos member Edward Winterhalder told the Daily Mail. “The Bandidos told them to take it off but they didn’t back down.” Of the fight Sunday, Winterhalder added, “It got out of control in the moment. I don’t know if we’ll ever know who’s to blame.”

Gang informant who goes by Charles Falco corroborated Winterhalder’s theory about the “bottom rocker” to CNN. “The Bandidos are the biggest motorcycle gang in Texas, and they don’t allow other motorcycle gangs to enter that state,” he said, adding, “They will allow other motorcycles clubs to exist, but they’re not allowed to wear that state bottom rocker. If they do, they face the onslaught of the Bandidos.”

On Sunday, 170 motorcycle gang members were arrested. They were charged Monday with engaging in organized crime in connection to a capital murder case. The judge ordered the majority of the bikers to be held on a $1 million bail.