Alleged hospital shooter was in state custody once after parole release
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Photo courtesy of Cormac West
The 30-year-old man accused of killing two Methodist Dallas hospital employees over the weekend was arrested twice on parole violation charges since his release from a state prison last October.
Why it matters: Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia criticized the criminal justice system that allowed "an individual such as this with his violent past and violent criminal history" to be free on an ankle monitor — though Garcia didn't suggest any specific solutions.
- The chief said Dallas residents regularly complain to police when people are allowed to return to their neighborhoods after committing violent crimes.
Catch up fast: Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez, who is on parole for an aggravated robbery, was wearing an ankle monitor when he visited a woman in the labor and delivery ward Saturday morning at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
- Police said Hernandez used the gun to hit the woman several times in the head before killing one hospital employee in the room and another in the hallway.
- Hernandez was shot in the leg by a hospital police officer and later arrested after a standoff.
The latest: The Dallas Police Department has taken over the case and will investigate the officer who shot Hernandez, a routine procedure in police officer shootings.
- Hernandez received permission from the state's parole board to visit his significant other at the hospital, but hospital officials weren't informed of Hernandez's past, Garcia and the head of the Methodist Hospital System's police department said during a news conference Monday.
Context: Hernandez has a lengthy criminal history, including a charge of assaulting a public servant when he was a juvenile, according to court records.
- He pleaded guilty to several felony charges, including the aggravated robbery for which he was on parole. In a 2011 case, he was given a reduced felony charge of robbery in a plea agreement.
What happened: Hernandez was released from prison on parole on Oct. 20, 2021, on the condition that he remain on electronic monitoring, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials.
- Hernandez was arrested twice since then on parole violations, in March in Dallas and in June in Carrollton, Garcia said.
- He was held in state custody from July 19 to Sept. 28 for "a technical violation to his electronic monitoring," according to TDCJ.