Arizona man executes Nogales dentist over bad work, then dies in shootout with Mexican police

PRESCOTT, Ariz. – A 30-year-old Prescott man wanted in the ambush killing of a dentist in Mexico has died following a violent confrontation with law enforcement south of the border, authorities said.

What we know:

Sonora state prosecutors announced Monday that Ernesto Rascón, a U.S. citizen with an American criminal history, was killed Saturday during a tactical raid in Agua Prieta, directly across the border from Douglas, Arizona. Investigators had identified the Prescott resident as the prime suspect in the Oct. 15 execution-style slaying of 42-year-old dentist Amed de Jesús Preciado Hernández in Nogales, Sonora.

A deadly ambush

The motive:

According to the Sonora State Attorney General’s Office, the deadly chain of events began when the suspect arrived at the dental clinic in an agitated state demanding immediate treatment for an issue tied to a previous dental procedure. When the dentist explained that he was unable to attend to him at that moment, officials say Rascón waited outside the practice, stalked the doctor to his pickup truck and shot him multiple times.

Surveillance video obtained by Mexican authorities captured the brazen ambush outside the clinic. Some of the audio has been muted due to the graphic nature of the incident.

GRAPHIC CONTENT, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Manhunt ends in gunfight

What they’re saying:

Investigators with Sonora’s Criminal Investigation Ministerial Agency, working alongside state prosecutors, used the footage and forensic evidence to identify Rascón and secure a warrant for his arrest. Detectives tracked him two days later to a home in the Ejidal 2 neighborhood of Agua Prieta, roughly 100 miles east of the crime scene.

When a joint tactical team comprised of ministerial investigators, state security forces and municipal police moved in to execute the warrant, the suspect opened fire on the approaching officers.

Police returned fire, killing him at the scene, said AMIC General Commissioner Carlos Alberto Flores.

Two officers were injured during the gun battle. A ministerial agent suffered a graze wound to the head, and a municipal officer sustained a gunshot wound to the left leg. Both officers received emergency medical treatment and have since been discharged from the hospital.

Dig deeper:

Flores confirmed that Rascón had a documented criminal record in the U.S., including prior drug offenses. Mexican authorities are coordinating with U.S. consular officials as the cross-border investigation wraps up.

Area of the arrest near the Arizona border:

What we don’t know:

Investigators have yet to release the specific dental procedure behind the fatal dispute, or the full extent of Rascón’s prior criminal record.

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