Global Courant
Dennis, DJ, Hernandez, brother of former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, has been arrested on assault charges. (AP Photo/The Boston Herald, Ted Fitzgerald, Pool)
Dennis John Hernandez, the older brother of the late New England Patriots Aaron Hernandez, is being held in a Connecticut jail on $250,000 bail after allegedly planning and threatening to commit two school shootings at UConn and Brown University.
The 37-year-old was arrested on July 19 and charged with threats and breach of the peace, according to a Bristol police station arrest log.
According to the incident report, as cited by the Associated Presstwo women told police they were concerned about Hernandez and his recent “very erratic behavior,” adding that he was “extremely ill and his mental health continues to deteriorate.”
A woman told police she was in a relationship with Hernandez and lent him her car so he could meet for a July 7 trial on a separate case. According to the report, Hernandez instead went to UConn and Brown and entered “a number of UConn’s classrooms and buildings.”
Hernandez has been in multiple legal troubles in recent months, according to TMZ Sports, some of which stemmed from an incident in May where he threw a rock at ESPN headquarters.
He was a two-time team captain for the Huskies football team, playing quarterback and wide receiver from 2004-2008. He also has an affiliation with Brown and served as the college quarterbacks coach for the 2011 season.
Police noted that they had previously spoken to another woman who said Hernandez had gone to “map out the schools” and claimed to have “a bullet for everyone.”
He also posted threatening messages on social media, according to the report. “Will I kill? Absolutely,” said one post. “I have warned my enemies, so pay in advance.”
The police findings led them to consider Hernandez “severely disabled and a danger to society” and to send officers to his home. Surrounded, Hernandez spoke to police on the phone. According to the report, he claimed to be armed and told officers “if we approached him, he would kill us all.”
The report alleges that Hernandez left the house and walked around the back to approach police, yelling “shoot me” with his hands outstretched. According to the report, he disobeyed orders and was subsequently tased.
While Hernandez was being evaluated at the hospital, he reportedly said he intended to “still intend to kill (redacted) along with anyone who took advantage of his brother Aaron.” The police report, as quoted by USA todaysays he mentioned ESPN, but not specific people.
After he was booked with Bristol Police, police were shown a screenshot of a previously unreported threat Hernandez had sent to a family member, the report said.
“The UConn program is going to pay unless I get a package deal and I get my estate and everything I worked for,” Hernandez reportedly wrote. He also warned, according to the report, to “stay out of there because if I go, I’ll take everything down and give no (redacted) who gets caught in the crossfire.”
His brother, Aaron Hernandez, was convicted of murder in 2015 and died by suicide in custody two years later, two days after being acquitted of a 2012 double murder. In 2017, he was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
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