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Associated Press

Waco bikers hid guns in sacks of tortilla chips and down a toilet

A video from the scene shows bikers running into the bathroom and the kitchen during the shootout.

POLICE IN WACO, Texas, have said the bikers involved in a deadly shootout in Waco, Texas, were carrying a massive arsenal of weapons.

Sergeant Patrick Swanton of the Waco Police Department told the Houston Chronicle that knives, brass knuckles, clubs, chains and guns were all found at the site of the bloodbath.

Some of the weapons were found hidden in sacks of tortilla chips, between bags of flour and behind seat cushions and someone also tried to flush a handgun down a toilet.

Restaurant security video reviewed exclusively by The Associated Press showed only one of the dozens of bikers recorded was seen firing a gun from the patio of the Twin Peaks restaurant where nine people were killed.

None of the nine video angles shows the parking lot.

Many of the bikers on tape are likely to have been arrested by Waco police, who rounded up about 170 people, charged them with felony engaging in organized criminal activity and set their bonds at $1 million.

Swanton declined to comment about the video. Swanton has said the people arrested were members of biker gangs with criminal elements that have been monitored by local authorities for months.

“They were not here to drink and eat barbecue,” Swanton said earlier this week. “They came here with violence in mind.”

The video shows bikers on the restaurant patio Sunday, ducking under tables and trying to get inside. At least three people can be seen holding handguns.

Before the shooting, the inside of the restaurant appears to be mostly empty. Bikers and other patrons can be seen walking to the windows facing the parking lot, where most of the shooting happened, when the confrontation was apparently underway.

When gunshots start at 12:24 p.m. on the video, most bikers, other patrons and staff immediately run away from the windows and into the restaurant’s interior.

One camera angle shows bikers running into the men’s bathroom. When there’s no space left in the bathroom, they dash toward the kitchen.

The AP was shown the video Wednesday by representatives of the Twin Peaks franchise, who have said the fighting began outside the restaurant, not inside as police have said. The franchise has not released the video publicly, citing the ongoing investigation.

Video footage shows police with assault rifles entering the door about two minutes after the shooting begins. As two officers enter, bikers can be seen lying on the floor with their hands spread.

Before the shooting, at least 20 members of the Cossacks biker gang can be seen on the patio. Members of the Scimitars, Boozefighters and Leathernecks can also be seen on the tape. While no Bandidos are immediately visible, police and one member of that biker gang have said some of their members were at the event.

Among those arrested was Theron Rhoten, who showed up at the Twin Peaks restaurant for a regional motorcycle club meeting. But, according to his wife, he soon found himself in the middle of a deadly shootout involving scores of other bikers.

Katie Rhoten said her husband ran for cover and was later arrested, along with motorcycle-riding friends and other “nonviolent, noncriminal people.”

Police have said that all those arrested were part of criminal motorcycle gangs, but only five of the nine people killed had criminal histories in Texas, based on court records and a search of their names in a database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Police have acknowledged firing on armed bikers, but it is not clear how many of the dead were shot by gang members and how many were shot by officers.

- With reporting by Michelle Hennessy.

Read: Deadly Waco shootout started when someone ran over biker’s foot>

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15 Comments
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    Mute Al Ca
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    May 21st 2015, 8:16 PM

    “If you point that there gun at me…I’m a gonna shove it up your big biker a*s”
    ……and that’s how the gun ended up in the toilet…..true story.

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    Mute Random_paddy
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    May 21st 2015, 8:11 PM

    Those relaxed gun laws in America are really working out.. Haha yeah…

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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 21st 2015, 9:07 PM

    And there are no illegal guns in Ireland either?

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    Mute Jack Dunne
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    May 22nd 2015, 12:03 AM

    its the legal guns in the US that are the problem,they think they are soooo smart but they cant figure that one out

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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 22nd 2015, 12:16 AM

    Jack. Do you know for sure that the firearms used by gang members were legally owned or are you just jumping to conclusions?
    Most of these guys are heavily involved in criminal activity and would have had criminal records. And as such as far as I am aware most if not all States in through US ban former felons from legally owning a firearm. And as we have seen from our own criminals it is very easy for the criminal fraternity to get hold of illegal weapons.

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    Mute Jack Dunne
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    May 22nd 2015, 6:57 AM

    Mick, have you read somewhere how many of the weapons used in this tragedy were illegal or are you speculating?

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    Mute seamus mcdermott
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    May 23rd 2015, 2:18 AM

    One biker arrested was a retired police detective. True. No priests have surfaced in the investigations yet…

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    Mute Jack Dunne
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    May 21st 2015, 8:03 PM

    “Wacky bikers hid guns in sacks of tortilla chips and down a toilet”

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    Mute Paul Mc
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    May 21st 2015, 9:11 PM

    The booze fighters what a name for a gang.

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    May 22nd 2015, 8:40 AM

    When the chips are down…

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    Mute corgarve
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    May 21st 2015, 8:11 PM

    Oh look at me , I’m in a motor bike gang, me and my friends nah nah na nah na.

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    Mute John Ennis
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    Jun 2nd 2015, 7:18 PM

    test

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    Mute dublinlad
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    May 21st 2015, 10:45 PM

    I’ll wait till I hear what glen has to say about this. The last time he drew a link between the Branch Davidian’s and the authorities from 1993.

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    Mute seamus mcdermott
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    May 23rd 2015, 2:19 AM

    Someone should check in on Glen. Hope he hasn’t hanged himself over this ssm thing.

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    Mute Michael O'Neill
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    May 21st 2015, 9:02 PM

    Stupid comments. RIP.

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