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 "There has been enough tragedy and there has been enough bloodshed
in Waco, Texas. We would appreciate there not being any more,"
Police Sergeant Patrick Swanton told a news briefing.
He added that threats for reprisal against police from motorcycle
gangs have "toned down" but are still a worry for law enforcement
officials, who arrested 170 people following Sunday's brawl at the
Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in the central Texas city.
Of the 18 injured, seven remain in the hospital and all are in
stable condition. Few of those involved in the deadly brawl are from
the Waco area, Swanton said.
The nine killed ranged in age from 27 to 65 and a preliminary
autopsy report indicates they all died from gunshot wounds,
according to records made available by the McLennan County Justice
of the Peace.
Those arrested were being held on bail of $1 million each in
separate parts of a county jail to prevent an outbreak of violence,
county officials said.
They face organized crime charges relating to capital murder.
Charges directly relating to the violence will likely come after an
investigation of the bullet-riddled crime scene where gang member
attacked each other with guns, knives, clubs, brass knuckles and
chains.
 Three of those arrested were released from jail when their bond was
mistakenly reduced to $50,000, a county judge said, adding fresh
arrest warrants were then issued along with requests to raise the
bond to $1 million each.
All three were later apprehended and returned to custody, police
said.
Those in custody are likely to stay there because the bail amount is
beyond the means of Waco bail bond agencies, a local agent said.
"We do not write $1 million bonds. In fact, there is not any agency
in Waco that will. In order for these folks to get out of jail on a
lower bond, an attorney will have to file a writ with the court,"
said Charlie Pickens of Pickens Bail Bonds.
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RESERVATIONS FOR A BLOODBATH
A coalition of bikers rented out a patio of Twin Peaks, known for
scantily clad waitresses serving mugs of beer, for a Sunday meeting
that turned sour when a rival gang showed up, police said.
A dispute over a parking space or a gang member's foot being run
over may have sparked the brawl that ended with a gunfight between
bikers and nearly two dozen police who had taken positions outside
the restaurant in anticipation of violence.
Among the gangs involved in the shooting were the Bandidos, which
the U.S. Justice Department says has between 2,000 to 2,500 members
in the United States and 13 other countries. It is one of the
biggest motorcycle gangs and a rival to the better-known Hells
Angels.
The Bandidos have been battling with a rival gang, the Cossacks, for
control in the state, which has been seen as Bandidos territory, an
expert on outlaw motorcycle gangs said.
"The Bandidos... think they own Texas," said police officer Steve
Cook, who heads the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators
Association.
"They say 'This is our territory and this is it' and that's the way
they leave it," he said.
(Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in
San Antonio; Editing by Dan Grebler, Christian Plumb and Lisa
Shumaker)
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