Sonora authorities say an Arizona man gunned down his Nogales dentist over a dental grievance, then died in a shootout with Mexican police two days later.

There will be no trial here. Investigators built their case in two days off security video and forensic evidence, got a warrant, and the man they named died in the gunfight that followed. That means the public's account of what happened in that parking lot will come only from Sonora prosecutors and their footage. The other question is how a man with a U.S. record ended up holding a grudge against a dentist across the border, and Mexican officials say they are now working that through U.S. consular channels.

An Arizona man wanted in the shooting death of a dentist in Nogales, Sonora, was killed during a gun battle with Mexican authorities who were trying to arrest him, officials said, according to FOX 10 Phoenix and the Arizona Daily Star. Sonora state prosecutors announced Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, that Ernesto Rascón, 30, a U.S. citizen, died Saturday, Oct. 17, during a tactical operation at a home in the Ejidal 2 neighborhood of Agua Prieta, FOX 10 reported. FOX 10 described Rascón as a Prescott resident, and the Arizona Daily Star's La Voz reported he was originally from Prescott Valley. The Arizona Republic and the New York Post also reported his death.

Rascón had been identified as the prime suspect in the Oct. 15 killing of Amed de Jesús Preciado Hernández, 42, an oral surgeon in Nogales, FOX 10 reported. According to Carlos Alberto Flores, general commissioner of Sonora's Criminal Investigation Ministerial Agency, known as AMIC, Rascón went that Thursday to a dental office where he had already received several treatment sessions, arrived agitated and demanded to be seen without an appointment, the Arizona Daily Star reported. When the dentist said he could not see him at that moment, Rascón allegedly waited in the parking lot, followed the doctor to his pickup truck and shot him multiple times, an attack authorities say was captured on a security camera, according to FOX 10 and the Daily Star. The dentist died in the parking lot of a hospital in the Kennedy neighborhood of Nogales, the Daily Star reported.

Investigators said the motive was a grievance over a dental procedure, and the Arizona Daily Star and the New York Post reported that Rascón blamed the dentist for leaving him with a loose tooth. FOX 10 reported that investigators have not released the specific procedure behind the dispute. AMIC agents and state prosecutors used the security footage and forensic evidence to identify Rascón, and the Mexican newspaper El Imparcial reported that an arrest warrant was obtained Friday, Oct. 16.

On Saturday, a joint team of ministerial investigators, state security forces and municipal police moved in with tactical gear and ballistic shields to serve the warrant at the Agua Prieta home, roughly 100 miles east of Nogales, FOX 10 and the Daily Star reported. Authorities say Rascón opened fire on the officers and police returned fire. A ministerial agent suffered a graze wound to the head and a municipal officer was wounded in the left leg, and both have been treated and released, according to Flores. Rascón received first aid but died at the scene, the Sonora State Attorney General's Office said, according to the Daily Star, and an AMIC vehicle was also hit by gunfire.

Flores said Rascón had a criminal record in the United States, including prior drug offenses, FOX 10 reported, and El Imparcial reported that his record also included driving under the influence. Mexican authorities said they are coordinating with U.S. consular officials because Rascón was an American citizen, according to FOX 10 and El Imparcial. Because he died before he could be arrested, the allegations against him will never be tested in court. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.