Austin police identify SWAT officer killed in line of duty during hostage standoff

Jorge Pastore has been identified as the SWAT officer who was shot and killed Saturday morning, according to a statement from interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson.

Pastore joined the department in 2019 as a cadet and graduated in January 2020, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Henderson. He is survived by his wife, two stepsons, parents and two sisters. Pastore also served on the honor guard and the SWAT Gold Team.

"My heart is heavy today. Please help me and our APD family pay tribute to SPO Jorge Pastore for his brave & heroic actions," Henderson's post said. "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."

Four people died in a hostage standoff situation early Saturday after police received a call from a woman saying that she had been stabbed. SWAT officers eventually entered the home and exchanged gunfire with a barricaded shooter. The shooter died at the scene, and two other people were found dead in the home.

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Another SWAT officer was also shot, but Henderson said that officer was in stable condition.

This is the first fatal line-of-duty shooting of an Austin police officer in about a decade. The last one occurred in 2012.

On Sunday, there was still a police presence on the block of Bernoulli Drive where the standoff happened. Parts of the street were taped off, and officers were walking in and out of the house.

Some residents of Tanglewood Oaks walking their dogs stopped briefly to look at the crime scene, which had calmed considerably in the 30 or so hours since the incident.

One resident had brought officers Starbucks coffee and yellow flowers on Sunday, an officer told the American-Statesman.

'Austin has lost a true hero'

Dennis Farris, former Austin police officer and president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, first met Pastore after working with him a couple of years ago during an event in the city. Pastore had a "big personality," Farris said.

"His whole career, his whole life was ahead of him," Farris said. "We truly are worse off today because he's not with us anymore. Austin has lost a true hero."

Former Austin police officer and union president Ken Casaday worked overtime assignments on Sixth Street with Pastore from time to time in the past couple of years.

"He was just a great person who loved being a cop," Casaday said. "Everything about him was being a police officer, and he could always be counted on. He was always smiling, always happy and always proud to be in uniform."

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Farris said he hopes that, over the next days and weeks, people will thank Austin police officers they see on the street, as the job can often be a "thankless one."

"Most Austinites go about their day-to-day life and never think about what the Austin Police Department is doing for them every day because they really don't come in contact with them and they don't see them," Farris said. "(But) the Austin police officers are there for everybody in Austin, and they're there to keep people safe. ... And it's just unfortunate that some people in Austin don't see that."

Details on memorial services are pending.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police identify SWAT officer killed in hostage standoff