The suspect in a shooting that killed two hospital employees in Dallas over the weekend was a parolee who was granted permission to visit the hospital for the birth of a child, officials said.
Nestor Hernandez, 30, was arrested on suspicion of capital murder Saturday in connection with the shooting at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Dallas police said.
Hernandez was on parole for robbery and had an “active ankle monitor,” the police department said.
Court documents show he was sentenced to eight years in jail for aggravated robbery stemming from a 2015 offense. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he was released on parole on Oct. 20, 2021.
"He was granted permission to be at the hospital to be with his significant other during and after delivery," Criminal Justice Department spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez said Monday.
The Criminal Justice Department’s inspector general's office is working with Dallas police, she said.
Two hospital employees were fatally shot in the incident, which unfolded at 11 a.m. It was not clear what might have motivated the shooting.
A Methodist Health System police officer arrived, confronted the suspect, fired his weapon at the suspect and injured him, the hospital system said in a news release. The suspect was detained, stabilized and taken to another local hospital, the statement said.
His condition Monday morning was not immediately clear. It was not clear whether he had retained a lawyer.
The hospital said in a statement it is “heartbroken at the loss of two of our beloved team members,” adding that there was no ongoing threat to the facility.
The victims were not publicly identified.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia called the shooting “an abhorrent failure of our criminal justice system.”
“I’m outraged along with our community, at the lack of accountability, and the travesty of the fact that under this broken system, we give violent criminals more chances, than our victims,” he tweeted Saturday night. “The pendulum has swung too far.”