Exclusive: Austin police got 2015 report on officer shooting suspect but didn't surveil him
Austin police received a report in 2015 about possible suspicious activity involving a man identified as the shooter who killed an Austin police officer Saturday, but they established no link to crimes or any reason to place him under long-term law enforcement surveillance, four sources told the American-Statesman.
That revelation comes amid a sprawling investigation involving multiple Austin police divisions and the FBI, which was asked by police to help process the shooting scene at the home on Bernoulli Drive because of its complexity. Police found an array of weapons and body armor in the home, investigators said.
According to information compiled by investigators, police received what sources described to the Statesman as a vague, nonspecific report that an unidentified man who lived on the same South Austin street appeared to be routinely performing physical training exercises. The caller suggested he could be linked to terrorism.
More: Austin police officer shot and killed, 1 other injured Saturday morning in South Austin
Investigators now believe that man is Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, who police say shot and killed SWAT officer Jorge Pastore early Saturday after Pastore and other officers tried to enter the home where Nassar was reportedly stabbing family members.
The sources told the Statesman that the 8-year-old report, which is documented in the department’s record-keeping system, was routed to the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, which investigates possible terrorism and “violent extremism” for additional investigation. However, documents describing how police responded and what investigative steps they took were expunged to comply with federal operating guidelines for such federally funded, multijurisdictional intelligence centers.
Those guidelines, developed by the U.S. Justice Department, generally stipulate that information that does not result in a finding of suspected criminal activity be purged after five years.
Federal and local investigators, briefed about the investigation, said they have no evidence to suggest that Nassar was on an FBI watch list, contrary to some published reports that also have been shared by the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, a statewide police union.
More: Austin officer Pastore's sacrifice, seeking to save others, is a debt we can never repay
Police have said they were called to the home on Bernoulli Drive early Saturday by a screaming 911 caller and found a woman nearby who reported that she had been stabbed. Police attempted to enter the home but retreated when they were met with gunfire, according to interim Police Chief Robin Henderson. SWAT officers were called for backup and forced their way inside the home, where they were immediately fired upon, Henderson said.
Pastore and a second officer were shot. The second officer, who has not been identified, was released from the hospital Tuesday.
The investigation continues to unfold as Pastore's colleagues plan his memorial service at 11 a.m. Friday at Circuit of the Americas. The event is expected to draw thousands of mourners and fellow officers from across the state and nation.
Pastore was the first Austin officer to die in a line-of-duty shooting in more than a decade.
More: Two other Austin police officers have died in line-of-duty shootings since 2000
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: APD got 2015 report on officer shooting suspect, didn't surveil him
