A 30-year-old Arizona man wanted in the fatal shooting of a Nogales dentist died Oct. 17 during a gunfight with Mexican authorities who were trying to arrest him at a home in Agua Prieta, Sonora. Ernesto Rascón had been identified as the prime suspect in the Oct. 15 killing of Dr. Amed de Jesús Preciado Hernández, a 42-year-old oral surgeon, after investigators said he waited outside the dentist's office and opened fire as the doctor climbed into his pickup truck.
Rascón, described as a U.S. citizen from Arizona, was named as a suspect within days of the shooting, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. The station reported that detectives used surveillance footage and forensic evidence to identify him and secure a warrant for his arrest. A separate report from the Arizona Daily Star described Rascón as originally from Prescott Valley, while one early report from meganoticias.mx put his age at approximately 40, a detail that conflicts with the 30-year-old figure cited elsewhere.
Attack Caught on Surveillance Camera
Investigators say Preciado Hernández died in the parking lot of a medical facility in Nogales after Rascón allegedly stalked him to his truck and shot him multiple times. A security camera captured the attack, and footage reviewed by Infobae showed the attacker shooting at the dentist as a white Ford Lobo pickup pulled out of the lot. The outlet reported the shooting occurred Oct. 15 in the parking lot of what it identified as Hospital Kalitea, though other accounts have referenced a differently named facility.
Authorities said the suspected motive traced back to a grievance over dental work. Investigators believe Rascón blamed the dentist for leaving him with a loose tooth after a procedure, per the same Infobae report. Mexican law enforcement agencies spent the following two days building a case against him before moving to make an arrest.
Gunfight Erupts During Arrest Attempt
Detectives tracked Rascón to a home in Agua Prieta's Ejidal 2 neighborhood two days after the killing, FOX 10 Phoenix reported. When officers arrived to serve the warrant, a gun battle broke out. The confrontation left two officers wounded: a ministerial agent suffered a graze wound to the head, and a municipal police officer sustained a gunshot wound to the left leg, the station reported, adding that both received emergency treatment and were later discharged from the hospital.
Rascón was killed during the exchange of gunfire, according to El Imparcial, which cited confirmation from Sonora's state attorney general's office. The outlet also reported that an official AMIC vehicle was damaged by gunfire during the operation. Some operational details of the confrontation, including the precise circumstances surrounding the exchange, remained unclear, according to Proyecto Puente.
Border Concerns Factored Into the Response
Proyecto Puente also reported that authorities had considered coordinating with U.S. officials to prevent Rascón from crossing the border and evading prosecution, given his status as an American citizen operating in Sonora. The binational dimension underscored the urgency investigators placed on apprehending him quickly after the dentist's killing.
The case drew attention on both sides of the border as details of the alleged motive emerged — a fatal attack authorities say was rooted in a dispute over a routine dental procedure. Preciado Hernández's death and the swift, violent conclusion of the manhunt have left Nogales residents and Arizona officials following a case that moved from a dental office parking lot to a deadly standoff in just two days.
