Police arrest man suspected of shooting 2 victims in head, killing 1 in north Fort Worth
Police in Fort Worth have arrested a man they say shot two people in their heads Monday, killing one, according to police records.
Hernaldo David Gonzales, 39, faces a murder charge in the death of 51-year-old Samuel Sosa Campos Jr. He also faces an assault charge in the shooting of the second victim, who has not been named.
Officers were sent to the 1000 block of Northwest 16th Street in Fort Worth’s Northside, where they found Campos and the other victim, according to police.
MedStar said both victims were taken to the hospital in critical condition. Campos died at the hospital.
Investigators believe Gonzales, who police said has a history of shooting people in the head, was seen walking toward the scene of the shooting and then running away after, carrying something, according to an arrest warrant affidavit written by Fort Worth police Detective KC Sullivan.
What police say happened
In the affidavit, Sullivan describes the investigation:
When investigators arrived at the 1000 block of Northwest 16th Street, a man told them he’d found his brother and cousin shot there. He told investigators the shooter was someone who went by the name “Bam Bam” and that Campos was unresponsive when he found him.
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Using surveillance video and witness accounts, investigators learned that a man showed up near the scene at 3:27 p.m. and started walking toward an alley. Video shows the man get out of a black four-door sedan and start walking down the alley toward a shed where the shooting would happen. A neighbor told police, and the video showed, that the man was wearing a black trench coat and gloves.
As he neared the scene of the killing, the man raised a hood in what police surmised was an attempt to hide his identity. One witness who was inside the house when the shooting happened said she heard shouting and banging sounds coming from that area. Another witness said she saw the man walking toward her, describing the same clothing and physical description police found in the video, and then saw him walk into the back yard. She heard “a commotion” before the shooting.
Five minutes after he arrived, the video showed the man running back up the alley, this time carrying a bag. The man dropped something on the ground as he ran from the scene and stopped to pick it up before continuing his run to the car in which he’d arrived.
In the video, the man got into the passenger seat of the sedan, a Nissan Maxima. Police know because he got into the passenger seat that there was a driver waiting for him in the car. Investigators were able to identify the car as belonging to a woman.
Investigators followed up with witnesses and other people in the area, learning that one of the witnesses began asking around to see if anybody knew a man who went by the name “Bam Bam.” One person told her his name was David Gonzales and showed her his Facebook page. Police matched the photos on the social media account to the description of the man seen walking to and then running from the scene of the shooting.
After more research, police identified the man as Hernaldo Gonzales. The investigators also found out that the woman who owned the vehicle had a child with Gonzales, allowing them to connect him to the car. Police records showed that the woman had previously reported she was assaulted by Gonzales.
Criminal history
This isn’t first time Gonzales has been accused of shooting someone in the head.
Hope DeHart, 18, was shot in the head in a west Fort Worth motel room in 2015. Gonzales and Joan “Mandy” Ashley Garcia were accused of dumping her body off a dead-end road under the mistaken belief that she was dead. She was found by two truckers who called 911. Paramedics were able to find DeHart and she survived.
Gonzales and Garcia pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in a plea deal that saw Gonzales sentenced to 10 years in prison and Garcia to 15. Both were initially charged with aggravated assault, accused of shooting DeHart in the head in a Comfort Suites motel room off Loop 820, then dumping her body next to the Quik Trip in the 3100 block of Golden Triangle Boulevard.
Gonzales contended that DeHart was accidentally shot by Garcia inside the motel room as the woman played with a gun, his attorney said at the time. He also said drugs were involved. Garcia blamed the shooting on Gonzales, her attorney said at the time.
This story contains information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
