Santos Cortez Hernandez, 25

Mission, Texas
April 20, 2015

Agencies: Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office Texas

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

The Sheriff TMs Office called off several vehicle pursuits, concerned that chasing Hernandez would hurt innocent bystanders. When deputies went after him, Hernandez would ditch them by fleeing on foot through brushy areas.

And it was obvious he knew that area very well, because once he got into that field we couldn't set a perimeter up fast enough to catch him, Montoya said.

Investigators designed Operation Lockdown to catch Hernandez, positioning law enforcement officers on a perimeter to stop him from slipping away.

At about 5 p.m. on April 20, the Sheriff TMs Office sent several investigators and the two sergeants to a wood-frame home near the intersection of 5 Mile Line and Schuerbach Road.

They spotted a light green four-door Mazda parked nearby, according to a supplemental report about the shooting obtained through a public information request.

Investigators knew Hernandez drove a similar vehicle. They approached the house.

An investigator who waited near the car heard someone shout no te muevas, no te muevas " don TMt move in Spanish " followed by several shots, according to the supplemental report, which doesn TMt describe the shooting itself.

After taking cover behind the car, the investigator ran toward the home.

The investigator witnessed the two sergeants struggling to handcuff Hernandez, who had black and gray semi-automatic handgun underneath him.

A sergeant grabbed the handgun and tossed the weapon to the floor.

The investigator picked up the handgun and observed it to be empty with no magazine inside the magazine weld and no live round on the chamber, according to the supplemental report.

Hernandez had been shot five or six times, according to the supplemental report.