A New Mexico man, 30, has been charged with murder after three people were killed in a biker gang shootout.
Jacob David Castillo was arrested in the wake of the deadly shootout at a Memorial Day motorcycle rally in Red River on Saturday.
The three victims have been identified as Anthony Silva, 26, of Los Lunas, Damian Breaux, 46, of Socorro and Randy Sanchez, 46, of Albuquerque.
New Mexico Police said gunshots were reported at around 5pm . Once they arrived on the scene, they found two dead and six injured. The injured were taken to local hospitals and one airlifted to a Denver hospital.
The third victim was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Jacob David Castillo, 30, has been arrested and charged on an open count of murder after the deadly shootout
Two other men among the injured have been charged with unrelated offences
Castillo was among the injured, and will be booked into the the Taos County Detention Center upon his release from hospital.
Another of the injured, Christopher Garcia, 41, of Texas, was charged with cocaine possession and is set to be booked into the detention center.
Mathew Charles Jackson, 39, of Austin, Texas, was also booked into the detention center after he was charged with unlawful carrying of a firearm in a liquor establishment. It is unclear whether he was counted among the injured.
Police said ‘the remaining four individuals’ who were injured have not been charged.
The Mayor of Taos, Pascualito M. Maestas placed the town under curfew from 10pm to 4am on Sunday and local hospitals were also locked down in anticipation of retaliations and further violence.
The New Mexico State Police have deployed more officers to Red River for the investigation, which is still ongoing.
The shootout involved members of rival ‘OMG gangs’, outlaw motorcycle gangs, which the Justice Department defines as ‘organizations whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises,’ including weapons and drug trafficking.
The altercation is believed to have erupted between two rival OMG biker gangs
Three people were left dead after shooting at a biker rally in Red River, New Mexico, on Saturday evening
At least 25 motorcycles were seen following the ambulances headed to Holy Cross Medical Center
The Mayor of Taos, Pascualito M. Maestas, issued a curfew from 10pm to 4am on Sunday
The Justice Department estimates there are more than 300 active OMGs within the United States.
The Associated Press said that Saturday’s shooting involved the Bandidos and the Waterdogs gangs.
Witness, Eddie Cook, of Benbrook, Texas, told KOAT that ‘there were people running by where we were standing, screaming: ”They’re shooting down there”,’ as the dangerous scene erupted.
‘I never heard shooting the first round but as they come by, everybody was running,’ he said.
The Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, who was off-duty, later shared a photo of the event 30 minutes before the shooting occurred.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘Prayers for all impacted by todays shooting in my hometown. Was a great day as I having dinner with my wife in Red River.
‘What a helpless feeling not having a badge, gun or radio as State Police officers and others enter the restaurant and slowly everything closes down and you don’t even know if you can get to your car or if it’s in the scene.’
According to the event schedule, bikers were expected to be at Bull O’ the Woods Saloon for a live music event by Warning Shot.
More than 25,000 bikers were expected to be in town for the rally this weekend.
The Bandidos bike gang started in San Leon, Texas, in 1966, according to USA Today. It is the largest motorcycle gangs in the US and has thousands of members, according to the FBI.
The gang has been involved in distributing cocaine and marijuana, among other drugs, according to the Justice Department.
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