In Waco Texas, Sunday the 17, there were biker gang members who began beating, stabbing, and shooting each other in Texas Twin Peaks restaurant and they knew the police were outside, they just didn’t care, Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said Monday. By the time it was over, at least nine people were dead, 18 hospitalized and the arrest tally stood at a “flexible” 170, the police were report said. For two months, police concerned with the bikers’ presence at Twin Peaks, which hosted special events for it leather-clad clientele. The police had patrolled outside and not in plain clothes and unmarked cars, either. “We wanted our presence to be known,” Swanton told reporters. “They knew we were seconds away and going to respond. That mattered not to them.”

Before the restaurant and surrounding parking lots became a bloody battleground, the Waco Police Department had 18 officers on the scene, including an assistant chief and tactical officers, along with four officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Shots were fired inside the eatery and a brawl spilled into the patio area, before scores of men flooded the parking lot in broad daylight. Some bikers were beaten with brass knuckles, clubs and chains, while other were stabbed or shot, Swanton said. When police responded within 30 to 45 seconds because of their proximity, the bikers turned their weapons on law enforcement, he said. “Our officers took fire and responded appropriately, returning fire,” the sergeant said.

As police rounded up suspects and paramedics tended to the injured. Investigators found eight bodies, three in the parking lot, four near the front of the restaurant and one that had been dragged behind a nearby establishment. More than 100 weapons were confiscated as well, Swanton said. Preliminary information indicates that four of the bikers were killed by police gunfire. The investigation continues and the ballistics will be analyzed to determine for certain who was responsible for each shooting.

Swanton called it “the most violent and gruesome scene that I have dealt with in three and a half decades of law enforcement.” The suspects remain locked up in the McLennan Country Jail on Monday facing charges of engaging in organized crime. Sheriff MsNamara said that bond was being set at 1 million dollars for each of the 170 people in custody. 24 hours after the brawl, Swanton said tactical units remained on the scene to protect journalist and investigators. Police hoped to finish processing the scene by sundown.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission shut down the Twin Peaks location, known for “bike nights” and its risque dress code for servers, for the next week. It was closed because “there’s enough of a reason to believe that more violence would occur there,” Swanton said.