The suspect in the weekend shooting in a Dallas hospital hit his girlfriend in her labor and delivery room before opening fire and killing two employees, police have revealed.
Dallas police on Monday shared a timeline of the Saturday shooting at Methodist Dallas Medical Center that killed two staffers, identified as Jacqueline Pokuaa, 45, and Katie Flowers, 63.
The suspect, Nestor Hernandez, 30, was charged with capital murder in the shooting. Hernandez is a parolee who was released from jail last October after serving jail time for aggravated robbery and was wearing an “active ankle monitor,” police said.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said he was granted permission to be at the hospital with his significant other for the delivery of her baby.
Hernandez arrived at the hospital at 10:21 a.m. for the delivery.
During that hospital visit he “pulled a handgun from his pants and hit the patient repeatedly,” police said in an update in the case.
Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said it’s not clear exactly what caused the suspect to be violent.
“He was acting very strange throughout the period of time there, he was wondering who else had been in the room, things of that nature. Honestly, we don’t know what set him off,” he said in a press conference Monday.
When hospital employee Jaqueline Pokuaa, 45, entered the room to provide “routine services” to the patient, Hernandez shot her once.
Another hospital employee Katie Flowers, 63, heard the gunfire and looked into the room. The suspect fired from the doorway and hit her in the hallway, police said.
Sergeant Robert Rangel was a few doors down investigating a stolen property call when he heard the gunfire. He witnessed Flowers being shot and called for help on his radio, police said.
Hernandez then reportedly reloaded his weapon and started to leave the room with the gun, the police statement said.
Rangel then fired one shot from his department weapon and hit Hernandez in the leg.
Hernandez went back into the room after being shot, and after a standoff with police, until he ultimately surrendered and was taken into custody, according to officials.
Both the hospital employees died of their injuries.
The American Nurses Association said in a statement Monday that Flowers was a nurse. Police officials described the two victims as a nurse and a case manager.
“We mourn for the individuals who horrifically lost their lives, and we extend heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims,” American Nurses Association President Ernest J. Grant said. “Time is up. Violence against health care employees is unacceptable. This must end now.”
Police said the patient assaulted by Hernandez before the shooting was treated for their injuries and the newborn child in the room was not injured.
Hernandez was treated at Methodist Hospital, stabilized, and moved to another local hospital for further treatment
His current condition is not clear. It’s not clear as of Tuesday morning if he has retained an attorney.
Investigations into the homicides and the officer-involved shooting are ongoing, police said.
Garcia denounced the shooting saying, “we lost two healthcare workers who were going about their day caring for others.”
He called the shooting “a failure of the criminal justice system.”
He said Hernandez’s criminal history spans aggravated assault of a public servant, burglary, aggravated robbery, and several parole violations.
“A violent individual such as this should not have been on an ankle monitor and should have remained in custody,” Garcia said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
