Officials have identified the Texas SWAT police officer who was killed in a shootout during a standoff at a home Saturday that left another officer wounded and three other people dead.
Austin Police Officer Jorge Pastore was fatally shot when he was part of a response to a call from a woman who said she had been stabbed, the Austin American-Statesman reports. A SWAT standoff ensued when police reached the scene, and shots were fired when officers entered the home.
Pastore was shot and killed in the exchange. Another officer was wounded and was taken to the hospital in stable condition. Two people were found dead in the home, and the suspect died at the scene.
"My heart is heavy today," interim Chief Robin Henderson said in a statement posted to social media. "Please help me and our APD family pay tribute to SPO Jorge Pastore for his brave & heroic actions,. Sir, we’ll take it from here. Thanks for all the prayers & thoughts. Continue to keep the Pastore family and our second Officer injured in your prayers."
Pastore, 38, began as a cadet with the department in 2019, graduating in January 2020. He worked in a variety of capacities with the agency, including serving on the SWAT gold team and the honor guard. He is survived by his wife and two stepsons.
"His whole career, his whole life was ahead of him," said Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association. "We truly are worse off today because he's not with us anymore. Austin has lost a true hero."
Pastore's death marks the first line-of-duty death for the department in over a decade.
