WACO, Texas (AP) - The Latest on murder charges filed against three bikers in connection to a fatal 2015 shooting outside a restaurant in Waco, Texas (all times local):
9:15 p.m.
An attorney for one of three bikers facing murder charges connected to a fatal 2015 shooting outside a Texas restaurant says he sees the fresh indictments “as a good sign, that there are weaknesses in their case.”
Lawyer Brian Walker says his client, Ray Allen, was acting in self-defense.
Allen and two fellow members of the Bandidos motorcycle club were indicted Wednesday. They were among nearly 200 bikers arrested following the shooting at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that left nine people dead and 20 injured.
Investigators say the shooting was sparked by rivalries between the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle clubs.
The county’s district attorney, Abel Reyna, says the indictments were the result of a review of “numerous videos and other evidence.”
The indictment charging Allen alleges he fatally shot Matthew Smith, a Cossacks member who died at the scene.
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7:40 p.m.
Ballistics evidence shows that one of the bikers charged with murder for a 2015 shooting outside a Texas restaurant is accused of killing a man who was also twice shot by a police rifle.
Glenn Walker and two fellow members of the Bandidos motorcycle club were indicted Wednesday. They’re the first to face murder charges for the shooting outside a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that killed nine people and wounded 20 others.
Walker is charged with fatally shooting Richard Kirschner. An autopsy determined Kirschner was shot three times: once in the buttocks with a pistol and twice with a rifle in the right thigh and left knee.
A forensic firearms analysis conducted for police traced the rifle wounds to a Waco SWAT officer’s .223-caliber rifle. The autopsy report says Kirschner died of gunshot wounds.
Walker’s attorney didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
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4:30 p.m.
An attorney for one of three bikers facing murder charges connected to a fatal 2015 shooting outside a Texas restaurant says prosecutors failed to provide a “full and complete picture of the evidence” to grand jurors.
Jeff Battey and two fellow members of the Bandidos motorcycle club were indicted Wednesday. They were among nearly 200 bikers arrested following the shooting at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco that left nine people dead and 20 injured.
Battey’s attorney, Seth Sutton, says he believes Battey “will be acquitted of all wrongdoing.”
Investigators say the shooting was sparked by rivalries between the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle clubs. Waco police officers monitoring the gathering also fired on the bikers.
The indictment charging Battey alleges he fatally shot Matthew Smith, a Cossacks member who died at the scene.
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12:15 p.m.
Three bikers have been indicted on murder charges stemming from a 2015 shooting involving police outside a Waco restaurant, including a prominent member of the Bandidos motorcycle club.
The Wednesday indictments mark the first murder charges in the Texas case.
More than 20 other bikers were re-indicted on new charges ranging from rioting to tampering with evidence. Those lesser charges come just eight days before the statute of limitations runs out.
Police arrested nearly 200 bikers following the shooting that left nine people dead and 20 injured. Investigators say the incident was sparked by rivalries between the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle clubs.
Each biker was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity. But prosecutors have dropped 154 of those cases since February.
Jeff Battey is among the three Bandidos members charged with murder. His attorney didn’t immediately return a message from The Associated Press.
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This story has been corrected to show that the statute of limitations applies to the lesser charges, not to the murder charges.
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