Police tape blocks off the crime scene outside a church where a man shot dead four people, including three of his children, before turning the gun on himself, February 28, 2022 in Sacramento, California. A father shot dead three of his own children on February 28 before turning the gun on himself in a US church, police said. A fifth person also died in the shooting in Sacramento, California, though it was not clear if that person was related to what police said was a domestic incident. (Photo by Andri Tambunan / AFP) (Photo by ANDRI TAMBUNAN/AFP via Getty Images)
San Diego, California – A woman recovering from a gunshot wound was murdered inside a Tijuana hospital Wednesday evening after two assailants disguised as nurses infiltrated the emergency room and fatally shot her, authorities said.
The victim, 39-year-old Wendy Lizeth Martínez Quezada, had been admitted to Tijuana’s General Hospital just a day earlier after being shot outside a convenience store. According to police, a man approached her outside the store Tuesday night. When she ignored him, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the abdomen and arm before fleeing the scene. Paramedics rushed Martínez to the hospital for emergency treatment.
While recovering on a gurney in the ER, two individuals dressed as nurses entered the facility and “finished her off,” shooting her at close range as she slept, according to Tijuana police. She died on the spot.
Authorities have not yet determined a motive for the brazen killing. Investigators described Martínez as a single mother who lived modestly and worked cleaning houses. “We still do not understand why she was targeted,” a police official told local reporters. “She had no known criminal background.”
The bold nature of the attack — and the ease with which the killers accessed a secure area of the hospital — have drawn serious concerns about hospital security. Witnesses told multiple outlets, including Border Report, that National Guard soldiers were visibly patrolling the emergency room at the time of the shooting but did nothing to intervene as the suspects escaped.
Authorities confirmed that one suspect, reportedly wearing medical scrubs, was later detained. However, it is unclear whether both attackers were apprehended.
Hospital administrators have said they are cooperating with law enforcement but declined to explain how the gunmen breached security. Baja California’s Health Secretariat issued a statement confirming that additional security personnel have been assigned to the emergency wing and that hospital operations are continuing.
The murder has sparked public outrage in Tijuana, a city already grappling with high levels of violence. The case underscores growing concerns about criminal impunity and the ability of organized crime to infiltrate public institutions.
