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Members of the Bandidos and Waterdogs groups traded gunfire
around 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT) on the packed main street of the
mountain resort town 75 miles northeast of state capital Santa
Fe, State Police Chief Tim Johnson said on Sunday.
"It was just gangbanger on gangbanger," Johnson told a press
conference in Red River, adding that no bystanders were injured.
Of the three killed, two were Bandidos and one was a Waterdog,
the police chief said.
Jacob Castillo, 30, a Waterdog from New Mexico was charged with
murder, while Matthew Jackson, 39, of Texas, a Bandidos chapter
leader, faced a count of unlawful carrying of a firearm and
Bandido Christopher Garcia, 41, of Texas, was arrested on
suspicion of cocaine possession.
The confrontation began in Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest
city, over a photo involving another gang, then spilled over to
Red River's annual Memorial Day motorcycle rally, Johnson said.
Bandidos have been involved in at least three shootings in Texas
and Oklahoma in the past two months, he said.
Some 28,000 bikers from across the country had been expected to
attend the Memorial Day rally, which featured live music and
remembrance ceremonies at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in
nearby Angel Fire.
Red River Mayor Linda Calhoun advised local businesses to close.
The incident came eight years after nine bikers were killed and
18 wounded in a shootout in Waco, Texas involving members of
motorcycle groups such as the Bandidos and Cossacks.
Some of the wounded were transported to a hospital in Taos, New
Mexico, around 25 miles to the southwest, where officials banned
alcohol sales and established a curfew.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Andrea
Ricci)
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