Arizona Man Accused of Killing Mexican Dentist Over Loose Tooth Dies in Police Shootout

Edited by Dentaltown staff

A dentist in Nogales, Sonora, was shot to death near his office Oct. 15. Mexican investigators say the man they identified as the shooter, a U.S. citizen originally from Prescott Valley, Arizona, blamed him for leaving a tooth loose after a dental procedure.

Two days later, that suspect was dead too, killed after he allegedly opened fire on officers who came to arrest him.

Dr. Amed de Jesús Preciado Hernández, 42, practiced in Nogales, the Mexican border city across from Nogales, Arizona. Municipal officers responded to a report of gunfire shortly before noon and found him wounded inside a pickup truck. Red Cross paramedics confirmed he had no vital signs, Radio Sonora reported, citing the municipal police report.

That report includes an account from a protected witness. According to the witness, a man walked into the dental office agitated and demanding to be seen. The dentist headed out the back toward the parking area, the man followed him, and several shots rang out.

The Sonora Attorney General’s Office identified the suspect only as Ernest “N” or Ernesto “N,” a 30-year-old U.S. citizen with a prior record with U.S. authorities. The Arizona Republic identified him as Ernesto Rascón, 30, originally from Prescott Valley.

On Oct. 16, Carlos Alberto Flores, head of Sonora’s criminal investigation agency, known as AMIC, said the suspect had been fully identified. He said investigators were working closely with U.S. agencies to capture him while an arrest warrant was sought, and that the killing stemmed from a misunderstanding connected to the victim’s professional practice.

The search ended in Mexico. On Oct. 17, investigators tracked the suspect to a home in Agua Prieta, the Sonora city across the border from Douglas, Arizona. When AMIC agents and municipal and state officers arrived to serve the warrant, they were met with gunfire, according to the attorney general’s office.

An AMIC agent suffered a grazing wound to the head, and a municipal officer was hit in the left leg. Both were treated immediately and are out of danger, the office said. An official AMIC vehicle was also damaged.

Officers returned fire, and Rascón died at the scene despite receiving first aid, according to the statement.

The same statement spelled out the motive investigators believe was behind the killing: a complaint the suspect made to the dentist, whom he blamed for leaving a tooth loose after a dental procedure. Because Rascón died before he could be taken into custody, the allegations against him will never be tested in court.

Sources:
Radio Sonora, “Agente de AMIC resulta lesionado al ejecutar orden de aprehensión contra responsable de homicidio de dentista en Nogales,” Oct. 17, 2026: radiosonora.com.mx/agente-de-amic-resulta-lesionado
Radio Sonora, “AMIC coordina con EU captura del presunto homicida de dentista en Nogales,” Oct. 16, 2026: radiosonora.com.mx/asesinato-dentista-nogales
Uniradio Informa Sonora, “Muere abatido en Agua Prieta sospechoso del homicidio de dentista en Nogales,” Oct. 17, 2026: uniradiosonora.com/policiaca/muere-abatido-agua-prieta
The Arizona Republic, “Arizona man accused of killing dentist dies in shootout,” Oct. 19, 2026: azcentral.com/arizona-man-killed-dentist-over-loose-tooth