Breaking News: Six bikers injured in suspected shootout between rival gangs

By Journal Staff | Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

Several members of the Outlaws motorcycle club were shot Tuesday evening in Custer State Park, possibly by members of the Hells Angels, according to a copyrighted story on KELO-TV.

KELO said the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation confirmed that five or six members of the Outlaws were shot along Legion Lake Road in the park.

The extent of the injuries the Outlaws members suffered is unclear, but all have been taken to hospitals, according to the KELO report.

Authorities said two of the bikers were airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, two were transported by ground ambulances to the hospital and two were taken to Custer Regional Hospital.

"The victims were either gang members or associates of gang members," DCI agent Kevin Thom told KEVN-TV of Rapid City.

Authorities said they were looking for several suspects and a white Ford 350 pickup in connection with the incident, according to the KELO report. Authorities were still on the scene about 10 p.m.

Sheriff's deputies and Custer State Park rangers blocked off U.S. Highway 16A one mile east of Legion Lake to divert traffic from the scene, according to the Associated Press.

Authorities say a man got out of the pickup and opened fire on the Outlaws members. Some of the Outlaws were staying at a house near the intersection of Playhouse Road and Iron Mountain Road, authorities said.

Area resident Dorothea Edgington said, "There were a tremendous number of sirens coming out of the park. The (Highway Patrol) were coming like mad."

The DCI said there is a possibility of gang retaliation because they believe the Hells Angels and the Outlaws are long-time rivals, KELO reported.

A number of Hells Angels members are in Sturgis for the annual motorcycle rally, Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin said at a news conference in Sturgis on Tuesday afternoon. They likely had also attended a recent Hells Angels gathering in Cody, Wyo., Merwin said.

Sturgis Police Chief Jim Bush said Tuesday afternoon that authorities were monitoring groups of Outlaws members who were traveling toward the Black Hills area.

Federal agents, police, the Highway Patrol and the National Guard have been gearing up for possible trouble between motorcycle gangs at the rally.

The last major violence involving motorcycle gangs during the Sturgis rally occurred in 1990, when a Sons of Silence member was accused of shooting two members of the Outlaws gang in a downtown Sturgis bar after one of them stabbed him.