Nestor Hernandez, 30, is charged with the capital’s murder in the Oct. 22 shooting
Dallas police have released disturbing footage of a recent hospital shooting that left two health care workers dead after a man on parole allegedly opened fire in a fit of jealous rage shortly after his girlfriend was born.
Surveillance and bodycam video released Wednesday, which is heavily redacted, shows gunman Nestor Hernandez, 30, opening fire at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
Jacqueline Pokuaa, a 45-year-old social worker, and Katie Annette Flowers, a 63-year-old nurse, were killed in the Oct. 22 shooting before Hernandez was shot in the leg by police and taken into custody.
The harrowing footage shows chaotic scenes as the two women are shot dead in quick succession at the entrance to the delivery room, where Hernandez then barricades himself in with his girlfriend and their newborn baby.
A woman believed to be Hernandez’s girlfriend screams and yells in fear and says, “Please don’t do this!” while she begs him not to hurt her child.
Dallas police have released disturbing footage of a recent hospital shooting that killed two healthcare workers. Gunman Nestor Hernandez is seen just before the shooting
Jacqueline Pokuaa (left), a 45-year-old social worker, and Katie Annette Flowers (right), a 63-year-old nurse, were killed in the October 22 shooting
Much of the footage was captured using the bodycam of Methodist Medical System Sgt. Robert Rangel, who was investigating an unrelated incident near the delivery room when two shots rang out.
Rangel can be seen quickly drawing his gun and firing a single shot as the shooter came out of the room with a pistol.
Apparently hit in the leg, Hernandez fled back into the room with his girlfriend and baby, sparking a tense standoff.
The cop takes a vantage point by the delivery room door and hears Hernandez yell while he waits for backup.
“We can work that out,” says Rangel. “Just throw the gun outside, please! Throw the gun outside.”
Hernandez yells back, “We’re not gonna take a shit, you guys don’t know what the fuck is going on!”
As the girlfriend continues to howl and scream, Rangel continues to urge the shooter to throw away his gun or let his girlfriend and baby safely out of the room.
Hernandez opened fire shortly after his girlfriend was born, reportedly in a fit of rage when he accused her of cheating on him. He was on probation for aggravated robbery
The hallway outside the delivery room where Hernandez barricaded himself during the roughly 15-minute standoff can be seen above
The police barge in and take Hernandez into custody at the end of the hallway
As cops gather in the room, the standoff continues as they order him to throw the gun out of the room and show his hands.
After a standoff that lasted approximately 15 minutes, the police moved in and took Hernandez into custody, although this portion of the released video is audio only.
Hernandez, who was on parole from prison, had been given permission to be in the hospital with an ankle monitor. It’s unclear how a convicted felon on parole gained access to a firearm.
“In my opinion, this is a failure of our criminal justice system,” Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at a news conference last month. “A violent person like this should not have been monitored at the ankle and should have remained in custody.”
Hernandez faces charges of capital murder and aggravated assault against an officer and is being held in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $3 million bail.
Hernandez arrived at the hospital around 10:20 a.m. to visit the woman at the delivery and began hitting her repeatedly in the head with a pistol, Garcia said.
According to a warrant affidavit obtained by WFAA-TV, Hernandez began hitting his girlfriend after he accused her of infidelity.
Hernandez has a long criminal record and now faces murder charges for fatally shooting two healthcare workers at Dallas Hospital over the weekend
Hernandez then began making “ominous” calls and texting his family, telling his girlfriend they were both dying and saying, “Whoever comes into this room is going to die with us,” according to the report Dallas TV station’s affidavit.
He shot Pokuaa as she came into the room to deal with the woman and then shot Flowers after she looked into the room when she heard gunfire, Garcia said.
Hospital Police Sgt. Robert Rangel saw Flowers being shot, called backup and took cover outside the room where Hernandez was reloading his gun, the chief said. When Hernandez showed up, Rangel shot him in the leg and after a standoff, police took him into custody, Garcia said.
Garcia said the woman who met Hernandez was being treated for her injuries and a newborn child who was in the room was not injured.
Hernandez was paroled from prison last October after being convicted of aggravated robbery, according to Texas Department of Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez. She said he was given permission to be in the hospital with his “partner” during her delivery.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia speaks during a news conference at police headquarters on Monday. The Dallas Police Department is investigating the shooting
Authorities have not released any information on how Hernandez came to own a gun while he was on parole for a felony conviction.
Methodist Medical System Police Chief Glen Fowler said Monday the hospital had not received any notification of his criminal record or that he was being tracked with an ankle monitor.
“That’s something we don’t typically ask for a parent,” Fowler said. “This is an extremely horrific situation that is not within the norm. I wish we had known, but this is not information that was previously made available to us.’
Garcia said Hernandez was sentenced to eight years for aggravated robbery, of which he served six years before being paroled last year. He was arrested for a parole violation in March 2022 and turned over to his parole officer in April.
In June, Garcia said, Hernandez was arrested by police in a Dallas suburb for another parole violation, taken to a county jail and then placed in the custody of Texas jails, which released him this September with the ankle monitor he used during who carried detention released shooting.
Dallas County records show that since 2011, Nestor Hernandez has been arrested repeatedly for charges including aggravated robbery, burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.