Search fatalities

Julio Cordero

Age : 54

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/22/2024

Location : Franklin High School Magnet Center, 900 N. Resler Drive

City : El Paso

County : El Paso

State : Texas

Agency : El Paso Independent School District Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Retired FBI agent killed by police on school campus

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/22/2024, Julio César Cordero, 56, was shot and killed by an El Paso Independent School District police officer outside the Franklin High School Magnet Center in El Paso. Shortly before the shooting, police received a 911 call reporting a man breaking windows at the school. Cordero's son was a senior at Franklin High School.
.
According to an EPISD custodial death report subsequently obtained by the El Paso Times, an officer responded to the 911 call and encountered Cordero. Police alleged that Cordero did not comply with verbal commands. The report states that the officer attempted to detain Cordero using unspecified less-lethal methods before Cordero allegedly picked up a large rock and moved toward the officer. The officer then shot Cordero. He died at the scene. The report did not state how close Cordero was to the officer or how many shots the officer fired.
.
Cordero's family said he had been experiencing serious mental health problems following his retirement from the FBI, including paranoia, periods of sleeplessness and PTSD symptoms. His brother Marco Cordero said Julio's mental health deteriorated after a suicidal man jumped in front of his vehicle and died in 2014, an event that also resurfaced trauma surrounding his sister's death in a 1993 crash. His family described episodes in which Cordero would stop taking medication and begin behaving erratically, including damaging property, but said he was not ordinarily violent.
.
Cordero was a retired FBI special agent who served in the FBI's El Paso Division from 1996 until 2019. He was the lead agent in Operation Poisoned Pawns, a major public-corruption investigation that resulted in numerous convictions of public officials and others in El Paso. The FBI publicly mourned Cordero following his death and described him as an important former member of its El Paso office.
.
Cordero's family questioned the police response and sought access to video and additional information about the shooting. Reporting after the shooting also raised questions about what less-lethal equipment was available to EPISD officers. The district would not specify what non-lethal weapons its officers carried, while sources reported that EPISD officers did not have Tasers.
.
The Texas Rangers led the criminal investigation with assistance from the El Paso Police Department. EPISD also opened an administrative investigation. The school district stated that the completed criminal investigation would be referred to the 34th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND
.
The EPISD police officer who shot Cordero has not been publicly identified.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/education/episd/2024/08/22/franklin-high-classes-canceled-death-body-investigation-el-paso/74901375007/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-fbi-agent-killed-episd-035715362.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/retired-fbi-agent-identified-man-162436020.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-fbi-agent-held-large-203652390.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/investigation-continues-ex-fbi-agent-024919819.html
https://kvia.com/news/abc-7-alert-center/2024/08/22/classes-canceled-at-franklin-high-school-district-officials-say/
The Cordero Family contributes:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-fbi-agent-killed-episd-035715362.html