WACO – Waco police are defending themselves in response to new criticism of their handling of the Waco biker shootout at a Twin Peaks restaurant on May 17.
They are denying allegations that officers shot aimlessly into a crowd of bikers the day nine of them were killed in a fight between two motorcycle gangs.
Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman responded to new criticism at a Friday afternoon news briefing at the Waco Police Department.
"We did not fire indiscriminately into the crowd," Chief Stroman said.
The allegation was made during a News 8 investigation that aired Thursday night. Decorated Iraq war veteran and former Marine Michael Devoll of Fort Worth was one of the 177 arrested that Sunday afternoon. Devoll witnessed the shootout from a pick-up at the corner of the parking lot, and was 100 yards away from where the fight was occurring.
He emerged this week from 22 days in jail saying, not only he was wrongly accused, but he believes Waco police were reckless in their response.
"The way the cops came running in and doing what they did - I mean shooting - it seemed like almost shooting aimlessly into a crowd of people," Devoll said.
But Chief Stroman said the vast majority of rounds fired were from weapons fired by bikers.
A press release sent Friday shows that 16 uniformed officers were at the Twin Peaks when gunfire erupted on May 16.
Among the officers were five supervisors and SWAT officers. Stroman said in a press conference Friday that none of the officers were assigned in a sniper capacity. He also said all of the officers were in the parking lots adjacent to the restaurant and visible to the people at the restaurant.
Chief Stroman said 44 shell casings have been recovered from the parking lot where the incident took place. Police say of those 44 casings, only 12 were fired from weapons belonging to law enforcement, and all of those shots were fired by only three Waco PD officers.
The release said the weapon count from the scene totaled at least 475, including 151 firearms, 12 of which were rifles. The weapons list also includes knives, brass knuckles, batons, tomahawks, weighted weapons, a hatchet, stun guns, bats, clubs, a machete, a pipe, an ax, pepper spray and a chain.
All of the recovered weapons have been handed over to the ATF. Videos of the incident have been sent to FBI investigators for analysis.
"Our officers were restrained," Stroman said. "They were courageous in what they did, and I fully believe that they contained the situation on that parking lot."
He said the bullets came from .223-caliber rifles. The officers who fired their weapons have been assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.
The chief said his officers were being fired upon and returned fire in order to protect their lives and the lives of other innocent people. But just who was innocent and who was not is a matter that is still under intense debate and investigation.
One-hundred-and-seventy-seven bikers were arrested for engaging in organized crime in connection with murder. Chief Stroman said it was his call to arrest so many, because he believe they were all involved in the act of murder.
"We had 177 suspects of murder -- homicide," Stroman said.
As those suspects begin to be released on bond, the threats of civil rights lawsuits against the chief start to mount.
Police said in their press release that they had 130 motorcycles and 91 other vehicles impounded after the shooting. As of June 10, 52 motorcycles and 47 vehicles were released back to their owners.
