What color is a thug?

The Wild West shootout last Sunday in Waco, Texas, by five rival motorcycle gangs proves what we’ve known all along — thugs come in all colors, ages, shapes and sizes.

The gangs’ roadhouse hangout, a Twin Peaks sports bar outside the popular Central Texas MarketPlace mall, became the killing ground for nine bikers involved in the rampage that also left 18 injured and about 170 others under arrest.

The shootout, which began inside the restaurant, moved outdoors to the restaurant patio and then the mall’s parking lot, where innocent, unsuspecting shoppers were forced to take cover behind cars and shopping bags as bullets and blood flew across the landscape.

The bikers first clashed using knives, chains and clubs, and then drew firearms on each other and on law enforcement officers who responded.

More than 1,000 weapons, ranging from AK47s to chains and knives, were recovered by police from the scene.

Waco Police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said, “In 34 years of law enforcement, this is the most violent crime scene I have ever been involved in. There is blood everywhere.”

At least 12 Waco police officers, including a SWAT team and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, were at Twin Peaks or in the immediate area at the time because of information that violence was expected at the roadhouse.