A Texas SWAT officer was killed in a shootout with a barricaded gunman in which the two hostages the married cop was trying to rescue were also shot dead.
The death early Saturday of Senior Police Officer Jorge Pastore — called “a warrior” by colleagues — marked the first time an Austin police officer was killed in the line of duty in 10 years.
A colleague was also hit — but left in stable condition — before the unidentified gunman was shot dead.
The deadly confrontation started around 2:49 a.m. Saturday when a frantic woman “screaming for help” said she had been stabbed, Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson said at a news conference.
The woman was apparently able to escape the Austin home, where two others were believed to be alive and trapped with an unidentified man who barricaded himself inside.
Arriving Officers made an emergency entrance around 3:01 a.m. — only to be met with gunfire.
They immediately retreated without returning fire and instead called SWAT officers, who arrived at 4:11 a.m., Henderson said.
“As SWAT officers entered, the suspect immediately fired his gun at the officers, and the SWAT officers returned fire,” the police chief said.
Two cops were shot in the exchange of gunfire, and Pastore was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The two hostages inside were also killed, and the gunman was fatally shot.
Only Pascore has been identified.
Pastore joined the Austin Police Department in 2019 as a cadet, and graduated from the police academy in January 2020.
Over his three years with the department, Pastore made the SWAT Gold team — which meant he was on reserve if full-time SWAT members could not respond to an incident, the interim police chief posted on X.
He was also part of the department’s CAST division — the team called on to take out active shooters, and the SRT or riot team.
Michael Bullock, the president of the Austin Police Association, described Pastore as a hard worker who “constantly sought to improve himself.”
“Officer Pastore was a warrior,” he said at a memorial service, according to KVUE.
“We will honor his memory as his fellow warriors by fighting for this city and profession, no matter who or what may stand in our way,” Bullock said.
Cleo Petricek, co-founder of Save Austin Now, also said, “Officers like Jorge make it possible for us to live only a phone call away for help.
“We must show our support for our officers who, despite these stresses, put on the uniform and take great personal risk to offer safety and a helping hand to our community.”
He is survived by his wife, two stepsons, parents and two sisters.