By Kelli Smith
Source The Dallas Morning News
A gunman who killed two medical workers this weekend at Methodist Dallas Medical Center reloaded his weapon and was leaving a room in the building’s labor and delivery wing when a hospital police officer shot him in the leg, forcing him to retreat, Dallas police Chief Eddie García said Monday during a news conference.
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Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez, 30, surrendered Saturday after a brief standoff at the hospital in north Oak Cliff, García said. Hernandez’s newborn baby was in the room when he fired but wasn’t injured, according to police and court records. It was unclear whether Hernandez has an attorney.
Hernandez faces a capital murder charge. Moments before he was shot by a police officer, Hernandez pulled a handgun from his pants and fatally shot the nurse and a caseworker, who were identified Monday as Jacqueline Ama Pokuaa, 45, and Katie Flowers, 63, García said. He also hit his girlfriend in the head multiple times with the gun, according to court records.
Hernandez was on parole and had an active ankle monitor, but had permission to be at the hospital Saturday because his girlfriend gave birth to their child, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He served 80% of an eight-year prison sentence after he was convicted of aggravated robbery but was released in October 2021, according to prison officials. He has been arrested for parole violations since then, García said.
“We lost two health care workers who were going about their day caring for others,” García said. “This is a failure of our criminal justice system. A violent individual such as this should not have been on ankle monitor and should have remained in custody.”
Glen Fowler, Methodist Health System’s police chief, said Monday the police had no warning Hernandez would be at the hospital.
“Anything about his criminal history, that’s not something that we normally inquire about for a parent in our NICU or mother-baby units,” he said. “This is an extremely horrific, out-of-the-norm situation, and I wish that we would’ve known — but that is not some information that was provided to us beforehand.”
Employee violence against health care workers is on the rise, which is a “great concern” nationwide, Fowler said. The Texas Nurses Association said in a statement this weekend the rate of violence against nurses is three times greater than for all other professions.
García said his quarrel “isn’t about being on parole.” He said his biggest concern is ankle monitors on violent criminals are useless and shouldn’t be used as a form of accountability.
“If an individual needed permission to go someplace, then you would think that the place that they were going to would have some communication,” he added.
Fowler said Methodist will conduct a deep analysis to ensure safety for staff and patients. He said there would be a “drastically enhanced police and security presence” in some hospital units, particularly the mother-baby and emergency room units and “other front-facing areas of our hospital.”
There are no visible metal detectors at the hospital entrances. Fowler said officials haven’t yet made any decisions about how security will screen people who come in and out of the hospital moving forward.
“We don’t necessarily say that we have all the answers to prevent evil when it’s going to occur, but we’re going to do our very best to protect our own fellow employees,” Fowler said.
The shooting
Police wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit that Hernandez walked into Methodist about 11 a.m. Saturday, accused his girlfriend of cheating and repeatedly struck her head with a handgun while their baby was in the room. The girlfriend told police that Hernandez told her “We are both going to die today” and “Whoever comes in this room is going to die with us,” according to the affidavit. García said the girlfriend has been treated for her injuries.
The affidavit alleged Hernandez fatally shot the first victim when she entered the room. Then, the warrant alleges, Hernandez shot the second victim, who looked into the room after the gunshot. A Methodist Health Systems officer also heard the shot and took cover before shooting Hernandez in the right leg.
Pokuaa was shot when she went into the room to provide routine patient services, García said. Flowers then looked inside the room and Hernandez shot her, he said.
Methodist police Sgt. Robert Rangel heard the first gunshot while he was investigating a stolen property call a few doors down and saw when Flowers was shot, García said. Rangel called for help on his police radio and then shot Hernandez as he left the room, police said.
“There is no doubt that his actions that day saved lives by stopping the suspect from leaving the room,” García said. “There was no further loss of life. Sgt. Rangel remained engaged, created a rapport with the suspect, constantly communicating with the suspect and the patient inside the room throughout the barricade situation.”
Criminal background
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles told The Dallas Morning News on Monday that Hernandez was sentenced to prison for eight years in 2015 for his aggravated robbery conviction and was denied parole after a review in January 2019.
He was paroled in December 2020 “with a requirement to complete a rehabilitation program” because he’d participated in treatment and would be supervised, the board said. Hernandez was released on parole on Oct. 20, 2021, after serving 80% of his sentence.
Hernandez was arrested by local law enforcement for parole violations twice this year. Dallas police arrested him in March for violating his parole, but the department declined to provide further details.
He was arrested again in June by the Carrollton Police Department (Editor's note: See above video). Jolene DeVito, a city spokeswoman, said patrol officers at an apartment complex recognized Hernandez and knew he had a full-extradition warrant. After they detained him, he “intentionally struck the patrol vehicle with his head” and caused a slight dent, she said. It was not clear Monday why there was a warrant for his arrest.
Hernandez was booked into jail after both arrests but was released in both cases. DeVito said officials “are devastated that he didn’t stay behind bars where he clearly belonged.”
García said community members lose confidence in “the entire system” when they see people who’ve committed crimes back in their neighborhoods.”
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “It is almost like we’re swimming upstream.”
As questions circulated from the public and police officials about Hernandez, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot issued a written statement Monday saying his office and judges aren’t responsible for parole decisions. He said the parole board makes such decisions. Creuzot said a criminal case hasn’t been filed yet with his office, but once it is, “my team will work to see that justice is done.”
“I remain sickened, stunned, and heartbroken by the senseless shooting at Methodist Hospital,” Creuzot said. “Given the sacrifices our healthcare workers make on a daily basis they should be free from threats of violence, especially in an area that is typically filled with the celebration of new life.”
Staff writer Lana Ferguson contributed to this report.
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