Austin officer Pastore's sacrifice, seeking to save others, is a debt we can never repay

In the face of peril, most of us would call 911 and try to escape with our lives. We count on people like Austin police officer Jorge Pastore to drop everything and respond, charging into the very danger we need to flee.

A public servant willing to trade their life for ours.

At a candlelight vigil Sunday evening, when the heavy clouds over Austin seemed to hold the tears of a grieving city, friends described how Pastore joined the Austin Police Department for moments like the standoff that weekend that claimed his life.

He was driven to save others. Initially, he did so by becoming a medic. After he saw the carnage from the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where he was living at the time, Pastore decided he needed to save people from danger itself, instead of trying to resuscitate their broken bodies after the fact. He enrolled in Austin’s police academy the following year.

“He was part of a team that constantly stands guard against any potential active shooter,” Michael Bullock, newly elected president of the Austin Police Association, said at the vigil. “He trained hard to become part of our SWAT team.”

No one was surprised Pastore was among the first SWAT officers to bust into a South Austin home around 4 a.m. Saturday, hoping to rescue two hostages trapped with a man who opened fire on police. Tragically, the night ended with four dead: the two hostages, Pastore and the gunman who unleashed this terror in the middle of the night. Another officer was injured in the shootout, and a third hostage managed to escape with injuries before the first officers arrived.

“Knowing Jorge, if you asked him to take the lead in a hostage rescue, knowing the risks, but also knowing it would save his teammates, he would have fought anyone for that position,” said Eddie Margain, president of the Central Texas Public Safety Commission (formerly the Greater Austin Crime Commission), relaying what he heard from officers who knew Pastore.

Also knowing it would save his teammates. Pastore was there to serve and protect his brothers and sisters in uniform, too. I was struck by Bullock’s description of Pastore’s warmth toward his fellow officers.

“It was a rare occasion that you can see Pastore and him not try to hug you or give you a fist bump,” Bullock said. The moments before the SWAT raid were no exception. “As I was on scene,” Bullock continued, “Officer Pastore … ran up to me at the command post and gave me a hug as well as the other officers he saw there.

“He then got his assignment and took off running into the unknown.”

Austin has been grappling with policing debates that are inherently political: A stalemate over a new union contract. Voters rejecting a rigid police staffing formula in 2021 and embracing more robust police oversight this year. Concerns that some parts of our city are more heavily policed than others. Prosecutions of some officers over their use of force. A staffing shortage that, lamentably, mirrors national trends.

Our city needs to have those debates, seeking the best use of tax dollars and the right balance between freedom and security, protection and accountability.

But we should also remember: Pastore’s service was not political. The actions of many officers, day in and day out, are not political. You call 911. They show up.

Pastore left behind a family who loved him — his wife, two stepsons, his parents and two sisters — hoping to save two hostages he never met. It is an unfathomable sacrifice, a debt our community can never repay. No display of gratitude could possibly equal what Pastore’s family has lost.

We still ache for answers: Who was the gunman who set these events in motion? Why were these lives destroyed? What, if anything, could have prevented it?

Then with quiet awe, remember that Pastore knew none of those things at 4 a.m. Saturday, and he had no hope of finding out. He simply put on his gear, got his orders and ran into the unknown.

Grumet is the Statesman’s Metro columnist. Her column, ATX in Context, contains her opinions. Share yours via email at bgrumet@statesman.com or via Twitter at @bgrumet. Find her previous work at statesman.com/news/columns.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police officer Pastore's sacrifice is a debt we can never repay