Waco Shootout: 170 Bikers On $1m Bonds

Around 170 members of rival motorcycle gangs have been charged with engaging in organised crime a day after a shootout at a Texas restaurant which killed nine people and injured 18.

McLennan County Justice of the Peace WH Peterson set a bond of $1m (£640,000) for each suspect, citing the nature of the violence which unfolded at lunchtime at a busy shopping centre and restaurant.

Mr Peterson has also carried out inquests on the nine dead bikers. He declined to identify them, but said all of them were from Texas.

Five biker gangs had gathered at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco as part of a meeting to settle differences over turf and recruitment on Sunday.

A dispute, which is thought to have begun in the bathroom, erupted into violence as gang members used weapons on each other, before opening fire with guns.

Up to 100 weapons were recovered from the scene.

A series of bulletins sent to law enforcement agencies across Texas on Monday have warned of the possibility of retaliatory attacks among the biker gangs.

One alert, sent by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, warned that the agency "has received information that the Cossacks and Bandidos have issues an order to kill anyone in uniform," CBS 11 reported.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has also warned of the threat of "escalating violence".

Texas authorities also issued a bulletin earlier this month warning of increasing violence between the two gangs.

The Texas Joint Information Center said the conflict could stem from a refusal by the Cossacks to pay the Bandidos for operating in Texas and for wearing the Texas patch on their vests without approval.

Meetings had been held in the past at the restaurant, and managers there had dismissed police concerns about the gatherings, according to Waco police Sergeant W Patrick Swanton.

He said: "They were not here to drink and eat barbecue. They came here with violence in mind."

Police officers were placed on top of buildings and highway overpasses during the shootout to prevent other bikes rushing to the scene to retaliate, it has emerged.

Authorities also said officers fired on armed bikers, although it was unclear how many were shot dead by gang members or by police.

Sergeant Swanton said officials were forced to use the Waco Convention Centre because of the sheer number of suspects they were dealing with.

Officers also had to respond to reports that rival bikers had gone elsewhere in Waco to continue the fighting.

On Monday, Twin Peaks revoked the franchise rights to the restaurant, which opened in August.

Company spokesman Rick Van Warner said in a statement that the management team chose to ignore warnings and did not meet the "high security standards" the company required.

Sgt Swanton has refused to identify which gangs were involved in the gun battle, although people detained after the shooting were seen wearing leather vests of the Bandidos or Cossacks .

More than 100 motorcycles remain in the parking lots at the restaurant. They are scheduled to be towed from the scene.