New York Daily News

9 killed, but no one faces justice in Tex.

- BY JESSICA SCHLADEBEC­K

Nobody will face punishment for the 2015 shootout between two rival biker gangs in the parking lot of a Texas restaurant that left nine people dead and at least another 20 injured.

McLennan County District Attorney Barry Johnson announced on Tuesday that his office would drop all remaining charges, dubbing the further pursuit of prosecutio­n a “waste of time, effort and resources.”

“In my opinion, had this action been taken in a timely manner, it would have and should have resulted in numerous conviction­s and prison sentences against many of those who participat­ed in the Twin Peaks brawl,” said Johnson, who took office in January.

“Over the next three years the prior district attorney failed to take that action, for reasons that I do not know to this day.”

The announceme­nt comes nearly four years after some 200 bikers from rival clubs, the Bandidos and Cossacks, descended on the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, on May 17, 2015. The gathering quickly escalated to shooting and violence, with Waco officers monitoring the scene also firing into the chaos.

A total of nine people were killed, two of them by law enforcemen­t, and more than a dozen injured in the deadliest biker shooting in U.S. history.

Cops recovered dozens of knives, guns and weapons from the restaurant and parking area. They arrested a total of 177 bikers after the attack and then charged 155 of them with engaging in organized criminal activity.

What prompted the brawl to break out has mostly remained a mystery.

Former District Attorney Abel Reyna dropped the charges against all but 24 and then re-indicted them on riot charges — all of which were dismissed on Tuesday.

Bandidos Dallas County chapter president Jacob Carrizal, who was tried by Reyna, was the only person to face trial. That case ended in a mistrial in November 2017, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. Johnson said his trial came with a $1 million price tag plus another $500,000 in security and overtime pay.

Reyna in a statement said he disagrees with “the overall result as well as several statements and accusation­s within Mr. Johnson’s press release.”

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