The Latest on Waco Shooting: Police Defend Arrests

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: ABC News

Police are defending themselves from suggestions that innocent bystanders might have been swept up in the arrests of about 170 people after a biker shootout at a Texas restaurant left nine dead.

Waco police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said Thursday that there were people at the Twin Peaks restaurant at the time of the Sunday shootout who weren't arrested. In his words, "If you were innocent, or we thought you were innocent, you were one of those that did not get arrested."

Swanton said there were "well over 200-plus" people involved in the Twin Peaks shootout and that "some of those individuals were intentionally released that day."

Some bikers have complained that police acted too hastily in making arrests and scooped up riders who had nothing to do with the violence.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-waco-shooting-crime-records-dead-biker-31213850

[Jesus Malverde]

1. Purple Heart recipient among bikers killed in Waco shooting

One of nine bikers killed at a shootout outside a Texas restaurant was a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient whose family members dispute police claims he was in a criminal group.

An Associated Press review of Texas court records and a database maintained by the state Department of Public Safety turned up no criminal history in Texas for Jesus Delgado Rodriguez, 65, of New Braunfels. And his son Vincent Ramirez told the San Antonio Express-News that he was not violent.

Rodriguez was one of nine bikers killed Sunday when gunfire erupted at Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, where motorcyclists had gathered for a meeting. Authorities have said the shooting began during an apparent confrontation between two rival motorcycle gangs - the Bandidos and the Cossacks.

Waco police spokesman Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton told the AP on Wednesday that all those killed were part of those two gangs. He was less specific on Thursday, saying all those killed or injured were part of five criminal motorcycle gangs.

Military records show Rodriguez was a Marine on active duty from 1969 and 1973, and received the Purple Heart, given to those wounded or killed in action. He also received a Navy commendation medal and other awards.

Family members said Rodriguez was a biker and had belonged to two now-defunct motorcycle clubs, one of which allowed couples. But he was not part of any club when he was killed at Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, they said, though he had friends who were Bandidos.

"If he thought there was going to be violence he wouldn't have gone," Rodriguez's son-in-law Amado Garces told the Express-News.

Video footage reviewed by AP shows that when gunfire erupted in the parking lot of the restaurant, most of the leather-clad motorcycle riders watching the confrontation from the patio or inside immediately ran away from the shooting. A few tried to direct people to safety, crawling on all fours heading for cover.

One biker ran away with blood on his face, hands and torso. A woman could be heard screaming, "Oh my God!" Others yelled, "Get down!"

Restaurant security video reviewed exclusively by the AP on Wednesday showed only one of the dozens of bikers recorded firing a gun from the patio of the restaurant. None of the nine video angles shows the parking lot.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/29120731/purple-heart-recipient-among-bikers-killed-in-waco-shooting

[Jesus Malverde]

2. Retired police detective among some 170 people arrested

One of the men arrested in the aftermath of a motorcycle gang shootout in Central Texas that left nine dead is a retired San Antonio police detective.

San Antonio police and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement confirmed that 62-year-old Martin Lewis worked for the department for more than 30 years before retiring in 2004. Lewis was among about 170 people arrested in Waco and charged with engaging in organized crime. Each person is being held on a $1 million bond.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/20/latest-on-waco-shooting-retired-police-detective-among-some-170-people-arrested/

[AuntPatsy]

3. Lots of unanswered questions, spinning like crazy, perhaps the media should report

On the real threats to Texas, namely its political makeup....

[Jesus Malverde]

4. The police walked back the 1000 weapons claim on their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/WacoPoliceDepartment?fref=nf

Spin is right..

[George II]

5. "Walked back"? Why not post EXACTLY what they said on their facebook page? Here it is:

Weapons Count Update

I have asked the Crime Scene Supervisor to give me a more firm count of weapons discovered from the Twin Peaks Restaurant so far. The first number I gave this morning was a best guess estimate from looking at the overall crime scene and was over estimated. My apologies for the confusion and I should have waited to release a more specific count not estimate.

The crime scene officers specifically stopped at my request to count weapons and have now been able to determine that count and it is 318 and still counting. We do expect the numbers to continue to rise. Please understand this is an extremely complex crime scene and they specifically took the time out to be able to give me a more accurate account late this afternoon. Those weapons include clubs, knifes, brass knuckles, firearms, and chains with padlocks attached to them intended and used as weapons.

The earlier estimate was an attempt to give me a count and it was initially believed the number was higher than we now know. We stand corrected at 318 and counting, with the crime scene still being processed. The weapons appear to have been discarded as Officers arrived and some hastily hidden. The have been found in sacks of chips, stuffed between bags of flour, stuffed into the bench seating, hidden in shelves, thrown into trash cans, placed in the kitchen stoves, discarded on floors and even so far as to attempt to flush a handgun down a commode. An Ak-47 was found in a vehicle parked in the parking lot as well as body armor.

Weapon breakdown so far is this:
118 Handguns
1 Ak-47
157 Knives
43 others

I will continue to provide you with the most accurate information not estimates as we progress thru this incident.

Remember, it was claimed a day or two ago that there were NO firearms found!

[Jesus Malverde]

6. What do you call claiming 1000 weapons to 318.

"Walking back" seems appropriate.

How many of the killed were killed by the cops... George?

They also are "walking back" the claim that all those killed belonged to 1%ers Motorcycle clubs.

[George II]

10. I didn't see the original 1000 quote, but they're far from finished counting anyway....

....and 318 weapons from 170 people is STILL a shit-load of weapons that can cause a lot of damage.

Considering the mayhem and carnage, the cops did an excellent job.

BTW, nothing like citing credible, on-the-scene news sources - Fox News and Hawaiinews!

[840high]

9. Cops were right in this.

[MicaelS]

7. Still trying to blame the cops..

Just like in your earlier thread.

[840high]

8. I don't blame the cops in

this situation.

[MicaelS]

11. Neither do I, and that's the point. n/t

[Downwinder]

12. Everybody standing their ground.

[NobodyHere]

14. I still wonder about using that as a legal defense.

[Downwinder]

15. Probably the reason for the general Organized Crime charge.

[ManiacJoe]

16. No chance of a SYG defense.

To legally defend a third party, you have to know for a fact that the person to be defended is an innocent victim.

[NobodyHere]

17. But can one claim that they were merely defending them self?

[ManiacJoe]

19. Only if you are an innocent victim to start with.

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Details of deadly Waco biker fight unlikely to be known for weeks

Ater a biker brawl that escalated into a bloodbath at a restaurant over the weekend, a key unanswered question remains: How many of the nine dead were shot by police?

Waco authorities said Tuesday they did not have an answer and did not know when they would. The investigation is expected to take weeks or longer as police try to unravel a complicated web of bullet trajectories, shell casings and medical forensics following the violent free-for-all Sunday involving more than 170 suspects and nearly two dozen police officers that also left 18 people wounded.

Brief, preliminary autopsy reports released Tuesday said all the dead men, ages 27 to 65 and members of the rival Bandidos or Cossacks motorcycle gangs, died of gunshot wounds. Some were shot in the head, neck or torso.

Police have said they began firing into the melee only after people outside the Twin Peaks restaurant were already exchanging gunfire.

“There were multiple people on the scene firing weapons at each other,” said Waco Police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, adding that officers responded to the fight within 60 seconds. “They then turned on our officers. Our officers returned gunfire, wounding and possibly killing several.”

Addressing one unconfirmed media report that four of the nine dead were shot by officers, Swanton said it would be up to investigators to find the answer.

“Is it possible? Yes. Is it a fact? No, because the autopsies are not complete.”

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-waco-shooting-20150519-story.html

[blackspade]

18. I have no confidence that the cops will ever present the real facts of this event.

It sounds like they are making shit up as they go along.

[ManiacJoe]

20. For example?