Retired FBI agent identified as man killed in shooting at high school in El Paso, Texas
A retired FBI agent has been identified by his family as the man killed during a confrontation with a high school police officer in El Paso, Texas.
Julio Cordero, 56, was a father of four and a decorated former federal agent struggling with deteriorating mental health since his retirement from the FBI, Cordero's brother Marco Cordero told Channel 9-KTSM.
The FBI El Paso Division confirmed Cordero served as a special agent in the bureau from 1996 to 2019. "We are saddened at the loss of one of our own," spokeswoman Special Agent Jeanette Harper said.
Cordero was the lead agent in Operation Poisoned Pawns, the 2007 public corruption investigation when the FBI raided the El Paso County Courthouse, resulting in dozens ofconvictions, including three former county judges, county commissioners, school board members and business people.
"He was a very respected lawman in the city. He made a big difference," Marco Cordero told KTSM, explaining his brother's mental health began declining after a suicidal man jumped in front of his car and died in 2014. The accident led to the resurfacing of memories of a crash that killed his sister in 1993.
An El Paso Independent School District police officer fatally shot Cordero during a confrontation before 6 a.m. Thursday when Cordero was reportedly breaking windows before the start of classes at Franklin High School, where his family said his son is a senior.
The school district and the El Paso Police Department have not publicly identified the man killed in the shooting on campus. Details about the confrontation have not been released.
The shooting is under investigation by the El Paso Police Department and Texas Rangers, as is standard in all fatal police shootings. The school district is also conducting an administrative investigation into the case.