Dallas hospital shooting: What to know about weekend tragedy that left 2 workers dead

A weekend shooting that killed two hospital workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in north Oak Cliff shocked the community and has left it with questions days later.

Officials have remained mostly tight-lipped, but law enforcement released more information Monday afternoon.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council will observe one minute of silence from noon to 12:01 p.m. Wednesday in honor of the victims. The council is asking its hospitals and community members to participate.

“This is our way of offering our prayers and condolences to the two healthcare employees who tragically lost their lives as well as to their families and fellow employees,” Stephen Love, council president and CEO said. “It’s also an opportunity to create awareness of the increasing workplace violence at our hospitals. Our healthcare workforce has been dealing with this dangerous increase for a very long time.”

Here’s what we know as of now:

• The shooting happened Saturday morning around 11 a.m. at the hospital in the 1400 block of North Beckley Avenue. Officials have not confirmed the incident occurred in the Labor and Delivery wing of the center, but court documents say it took place in a room with a mother and her newborn child.
• Officials identified Jacqueline Ama Pokuaa, 45, and Katie Annette Flowers, 63, as the victims. Pokuaa was a case worker. Flowers was a nurse.
• There are two criminal investigations stemming from Saturday’s shootings, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said in a joint press conference Monday afternoon with Methodist Health Systems Police Chief Glen Fowler. The first investigation is the double homicide of the hospital employees and the second is into the police officer shooting the suspect.
• The suspect, Nestor Oswaldo Hernandez, faces a capital murder charge in the killings. He was on parole and wearing an ankle monitor after being released from prison last year on an aggravated robbery charge. He had been given permission to be at the hospital “to be with his significant other during delivery,” a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News. In a Tuesday statement, the department said: “Parole supervision allows those previously incarcerated to transition back into their community, which includes visiting family members in hospitals. There was not an indication that Hernandez would act out violently in a hospital, and allowing him the ability to visit loved ones in that setting would not be out of the normal course of supervision.”
• The incident began when Hernandez accused his girlfriend, who gave birth to their child Friday, of cheating, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by The News. Police wrote in the affidavit that Hernandez shot Pokuaa after she entered the room. Flowers was shot in the hallway after she looked in the room soon after.
• A Methodist Health System Police officer was also in the hallway when the shootings happened and took covering before shooting Hernandez in the right leg, police said in the arrest-warrant affidavit. A “brief standoff” ensued before Hernandez surrendered.
• Hernandez was taken to another hospital to have his injuries treated. It’s unclear if he remained in the hospital or was in police custody as of Monday morning.
• Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot released a statement Monday afternoon saying a criminal case had not yet been filed with his office. Once one is, his team “will work to see that justice is done,” he said.
• No public vigil or memorial event has been announced for the victims as of Tuesday afternoon.