Dallas, May 18 (RHC)-- A shooting incident in the U.S. state of Texas has killed at least nine people and injured several others, police say. The Waco Police Department said two rival motorcycle gangs turned on each other outside a restaurant in the city of Waco on Sunday afternoon.

"Multiple injuries to include multiple fatalities," the Waco Police Department said in a post on Facebook. "Officers were on scene when shooting started. No officers have been injured."

Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said eight people were shot dead at the scene of the shooting and another person died at a hospital. Swanton said the fighting began with punches but later on knives and firearms used. It's not clear if bystanders are among the victims. The lunchtime shooting sent witnesses scrambling for cover outside the Twin Peaks Restaurant as the gunfight between two rival gangs took over a large parking lot.

Every year, more than 30,000 people are shot and killed in the United States. The U.S. averages 87 gun deaths each day as a function of gun violence, with an average of 183 injured, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Centers for Disease Control.

About 4.5 million firearms are sold annually in the United States at a cost of 2 to 3 billion dollars.