In 2015, Hernandez was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery. The 30-year-old was conditionally released in October 2021.
DALLAS — Shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, Dallas police responded to reports of a shooting at Oak Cliff Methodist Hospital.
Upon arrival, police said they found two hospital workers were shot and killed near the labor and delivery area on the fourth floor of the hospital. They also said they detained a suspect in the shooting – a man who was shot and wounded by the Methodist Health System police officer who was the first to respond to the scene.
Friends and family of hospital workers described a scene in which hospital workers ran for cover and hid from an active shooter after hearing gunshots ring out on the fourth floor of the hospital.
The man held by law enforcement was stabilized and transported to another hospital for treatment for his injuries.
He was later identified by Dallas police as 30-year-old Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez.
Who is Nestor Hernández?
According to his Facebook page, Hernandez attended WT White High School in North Dallas of the Dallas Independent School District.
Hernandez appeared in Dallas County courts on several charges as a young man – including a 2012 robbery conviction and 2009 delinquent conduct constituting the criminal offense of assaulting a public official – before finally agreeing a plea deal on an aggravated robbery charge he faced in 2015.
A first-degree felony, aggravated robbery charges carry sentences of five to 99 years or life in prison, plus an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Per his aggravated assault plea agreement — dated Sept. 15, 2015 — Hernandez was sentenced to eight years in prison for pleading guilty to the charges.
In a tweet Saturday, Dallas Police Department Chief Eddie Garcia called the shooting a “tragedy” and “an abhorrent failure of our criminal justice system.”
According to DPD, Hernandez was on parole at the time of Saturday’s shooting and was wearing an active ankle monitor.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) confirms that Hernandez was released on parole on October 20, 2021.
Why was Nestor Hernandez incarcerated?
According to an indictment, Hernandez and an accomplice named Selena Villatoro were arrested on January 17, 2015, for aggravated robbery.
According to the indictment, Hernandez and Villatoro were suspected of approaching a woman as she entered his North Dallas apartment, punching her in the back of the head, pulling her to the floor by the hair, putting their hands around his throat, telling him “Don’t scream or I’ll kill you!” and demanding that she open the door to her apartment.
The indictment further adds that after forcing their way into the apartment, the suspects told the victim, “Don’t look at us or we’ll kill you!” before hitting her again, demanding goods and money and scouring the apartment for valuables. As suspects ‘ransacked’ the victims’ apartment, the indictment continues, the victim found a knife on the floor and attempted to fight back, leading to a fight over the knife before that the victim is beaten again and forced to go to the bathroom with her hands tied. together and his eyes covered with duct tape.
According to the indictment, the suspects took a cell phone, a car, $3,000 in cash from a school fundraiser and other documents from the victim before leaving the apartment. According to the indictment, Hernandez and Villatoro were arrested in another part of town later that day on unrelated charges of public intoxication and traffic warrants. The affidavit notes that the suspects were driving the victim’s car at the time of this arrest and that officers recovered backpacks, cash and other property identified as belonging to the victim, although the suspects maintained that everything belonged to them.
During questioning, according to the indictment, Villatoro confessed to injecting heroin earlier that evening.
Hernandez and Villatoro later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault charges for the January 17, 2015 complaint. According to their plea agreements, Hernandez was sentenced to eight years in prison for his plea and Villatoro to five years.
Why was Nestor Hernandez at the Methodist Hospital on Saturday?
According to TDJC, Hernandez was paroled for aggravated robbery on Oct. 21, 2021, with a special condition of electronic ankle monitoring.
The TDCJ also confirmed that Hernandez had “clearance to be in the hospital with her significant other during labor. [of her child].”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the WFAA, Hernandez went to the hospital to visit his girlfriend, who had given birth to their child.
The warrant said Hernandez then began “acting strangely” and accused his girlfriend of cheating on him. The suspect began searching the room to see if anyone else was there, according to the warrant. Hernandez then pulled out a handgun and hit his girlfriend repeatedly in the head with it, according to the affidavit.
According to the warrant, Hernandez then began making “ominous” calls and texts to his family and told his girlfriend, “We’re both going to die today” and “anyone who comes into this room will die with us”.
The warrant stated that the first victim then entered the room and was shot by Hernandez. According to the warrant, the second victim and a police officer from Methodist Hospital were in the hallway and heard the shot. The warrant stated that the second victim then looked around the room to see the body of the first victim and was also shot by Hernandez.
The officer then took cover and shot Hernandez in the right leg, according to the warrant.
Hernandez was then detained and taken to another hospital for treatment.
Law enforcement has yet to release Hernandez’s photo or the names of the victims.
This is a developing story. Stay with WFAA for more information as it becomes available.