'He wanted to do more': Fallen Austin police officer Jorge Pastore remembered at vigil
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correctly identify Jennifer Stephenson as a retired assistant police chief.
Nearly 100 people gathered outside of Austin City Hall on a cloudy Sunday evening — some holding tea light candles and others with signs that read messages such as "We appreciate Austin police" — to listen as local leaders spoke at a vigil for the fallen Austin SWAT officer Jorge Pastore, who was killed in the line of duty on Saturday.
"We can't have a safe community without police officers being willing to do what officer (Pastore) did the night before last, which is walk into danger," said U.S. Rep. Chip Roy at Sunday's vigil. "When this kind of thing happens, we need to rally around our officers. But not just when this kind of thing happens — every single day."
Pastore was one of four people who died as the result of a hostage standoff at a home in South Austin on Saturday. Austin police were called to the scene just before 3 a.m. with a call from a woman saying that she had been stabbed. When Austin police officers arrived and went inside, they were shot at by the suspect, which is when SWAT was called.
About an hour later, SWAT officers breached the home and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, resulting in two officers being shot. Pastore died from his injuries "despite the tremendous efforts of our officers, EMS attack medics, Austin Fire Department and local hospital staff," interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson said. Another SWAT officer was also taken to the hospital, but officials said the officer was in stable condition.
Police found two people dead in the home. The suspect was also found dead, although it's unclear how the gunman died. The woman who called 911 was taken to the hospital with stab wounds.
Timeline: From 911 call to hostages, Austin officer's death
Pastore remembered as someone who 'wanted to do more'
Eduardo Margain, president of the Greater Austin Crime Commission, read a statement made by a friend of Pastore. In it, the friend said Pastore had first been a medic in Florida, where he was one of the first on the scene at the Parkland High School mass shooting and tended to wounded children. It was after the mass shooting that he realized "he wanted to do more."
"He wanted to prevent such tragedies, not help the kids after. He wanted to go and be able to fix the solution from the root cause and prevent the bad guy from harming the good guys," Margain read. "That's why he joined APD with the goal of becoming a member of SWAT. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would be the first through the door. That's just the kind of guy he was."
'Horrible moment': Austin leaders react to fatal shooting of police officer, injury of second
Unity and respect among themes of Sunday's vigil
Pastore's death marks the first in-line-of-duty death of an Austin police officer in more than a decade. Speeches were made by a slew of local leaders at Sunday's vigil, organized by Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, including Austin's NAACP chapter president, Nelson Linder. Most speeches touched on a similar theme: This is a time for Austin residents to come together and show respect to law enforcement.
"I believe these occasions offer opportunities to listen, to communicate, to embrace and build a larger network for creating peace and justice in our society," Linder said. "We can't solve these problems unless we understand each other."
In addition to Pastore, another Austin police officer died over the weekend. Retired assistant chief Jennifer Stephenson announced Sunday that officer Kristy Astran died unexpectedly while off duty. Stephenson later posted on X, formerly Twitter, that retired officer Ray Shilito also died this weekend, meaning the department is mourning three deaths within 24 hours.
"I'm heartbroken at the tragedy that has unfolded this weekend," said Cleo Petricek, a community advocate and co-founder of Save Austin Now. "Two officers lost and one injured at a time of very low morale and high stress. ... We must show our support for officers who, despite the stresses, put on the uniform and take great personal risk to offers safety and a helping hand to our community."
Community members had the opportunity to write heartfelt words of support and encouragement for dedicated Austin police officers. The messages of solidarity would be delivered to Henderson after the vigil.
'We ... have not treated our officers fairly'
Over the past few years, policing has become a highly politicized issue due to a number of high-profile killings by officers across the country, such as the killing of Mike Ramos in Austin. And while speakers on Sunday, such as former Travis County auditor Susan Spataro, said the event was not about partisan politics, it was often invoked throughout the rally.
Spataro spoke about instances of tension between the city and police, including when the former City Council cut 150 sworn positions from the Austin Police Department three years ago during nationwide calls to reform policing in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. That same council also paused cadet classes for a year. Spataro also spoke about how the current City Council rejected a contract between the city and the police union earlier this year.
"I think we as a city have not treated our officers fairly," Spataro said. "They stand up for us. We need to stand up for them."
Peter Emerson, who lives in Austin and attended Sunday's vigil with his family, said that as a former Marine, he understands what it's like to come home and "not be well received by everyone." He said he attended because he believes that not enough people in Austin support the police.
"They are a vital service to the community that is understaffed, underfunded, underappreciated, underpaid," Emerson said. "It's a shame what some of the community here have done to decimate the abilities of the police to protect us all."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Vigil honors life of fallen Austin police officer Jorge Pastore
