Dennis John Hernandez, the older brother of late New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, is being held in a Connecticut jail on a $250,000 bail after he allegedly planned and threatened to carry out two school shootings at UConn and Brown University.
The 37-year-old was arrested July 19 and charged with threatening and breach of peace, according to a Bristol Police Department arrest log.
According to the incident report, as cited by the Associated Press, two women told police they were concerned about Hernandez and his recent "very erratic behavior," adding he was "extremely sick and that his mental health is continuing to deteriorate."
A woman told police she had been dating Hernandez and loaned him her car so he could make a July 7 court date for a separate case. According to the report, Hernandez instead went to UConn and Brown and entered "a number of classrooms and buildings at UConn."
Hernandez has had multiple legal issues in recent months, according to TMZ Sports, some of them stemming from a May incident in which he allegedly threw a brick at ESPN’s headquarters.
He was a two-time team captain for the Huskies football team, where he played quarterback and wide receiver from 2004-08. He also has a connection to Brown, working as the university's quarterbacks coach for the 2011 season.
Police noted they had previously spoken to another woman who said Hernandez had gone to "map the schools out," and claimed to have "a bullet for everyone."
He also made threatening social media posts, according to the report. "Will I kill? Absolutely," one post said. "I've warned my enemies so pay up front."
The police's findings led them to deem Hernandez "gravely disabled and a danger to society" and dispatch officers to his home. Surrounded, Hernandez spoke with police on the phone. According to the report, he claimed to be armed, telling officers "if we approached him, he would kill us all."
The report claims Hernandez left the house and walked around the back to approach police, yelling “shoot me” with his hands outstretched. He disregarded commands and was subsequently tased, according to the report.
While Hernandez was being evaluated at the hospital, he allegedly said he "was planning to still kill [redacted] along with anyone who profited off of his brother Aaron." The police report, as cited by USA Today, says he mentioned ESPN, but no specific people.
After he was booked at the Bristol Police Department, police were presented with a screenshot of a previously unreported threat Hernandez sent a family member, according to the report.
[quote] "UConn program is going to pay unless I have a package deal and I get my estate and every single thing I have worked for," Hernandez allegedly wrote. He also issued a warning, according to the report, to stay "away from there because when I go I'm taking down everything And don't give a [redacted] who gets caught in the cross fire."
His brother, Aaron Hernandez, was convicted of murder in 2015 and died by suicide in custody two years later, two days after he was acquitted of a 2012 double homicide. He was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2017.
