WACO, Texas — About 170 members of rival motorcycle gangs were charged with engaging in organized crime Monday, a day after a shootout at a Texas restaurant that killed nine people and wounded 18.
The crowd of suspects was so large that authorities opened a convention center to hold them all before they were arrested, police said.
Sunday’s melee at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco drew a broad police response that included placing officers atop buildings and highway overpasses to watch for other bikers rushing to the scene to retaliate.
McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. Peterson set bond at $1 million for each suspect. He defended the high amount, citing the violence that quickly unfolded in a shopping market busy with a lunchtime crowd.
“We have nine people dead, because these people wanted to come down and what? Drink? Party?” Peterson said. “I thought it was appropriate.”