WACO, Texas -- 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 indictment marks the first murder charges in the Texas case. It comes just eight days before the statute of limitations runs out.
An attorney for one of three bikers facing murder charges said 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, said 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.
More than 20 other bikers were re-indicted on new charges ranging from rioting to tampering with evidence. 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.
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