Law enforcement officials in Austin, Texas, have disclosed additional information regarding the Nov. 11 officer-involved incident that claimed Officer Jorge Pastore’s life.
That morning in Austin, a barricaded shooter who was holding three hostages shot and killed a SWAT officer before killing himself there.
After authorities broke through the door at around 4 a.m. and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, 35-year-old Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, two more victims were discovered dead inside the house.
A thorough chronology of the incidents was made public by the Austin Police Department on November 11.
Dispatchers got a call for help on Bernoulli Drive at 2:49 a.m. According to authorities, the caller cried out for assistance and said that she was being stabbed.
Responding policemen in Austin uniforms showed up on the scene eight minutes later, and they started obtaining further details, including the suspect’s whereabouts.
Along with learning that Nassar, the suspect, was inside the house with two other injured people, the officers also received this information.
Just before the police arrived, a third victim broke free from the residence. The female escapee was found by police and emergency medical staff. She informed the officers that Nassar still had a knife. Shortly after three in the morning, the woman received medical attention for her wounds at a local hospital.
The police broke into the house at around three in the morning, announcing that they were Austin Police Officers, according to the agency. The officers apparently fled the house after Nassar opened fire, but they did not shoot back.
SWAT was called because Nassar was armed and holding hostages, and they made an emergency entrance into the house at 4:11 a.m.
Nassar fired at SWAT once they were inside, and they retaliated. Two officers were shot during the exchange; EMS tactical medics got them to safety and started to provide aid.
The two injured officers were transported to a local hospital for medical attention.
While the other victim received treatment and was eventually freed, Pastore, one of the victims, eventually passed away from his wounds.
Eyman Nassar, age 63, and Riad Nassar, age 62, were the two victims who both passed away inside the house where Nassar was living.
Ahmed Nassar passed away at the site after suffering injuries as well.
According to police, the event was recorded by the responding officers’ body cameras, and as allowed by departmental rules, the video will be made available to the public within ten working days.
Three of the responding policemen, according to the police, discharged their department-approved weapons. Three of the officers who fired their weapons have been with the department for eight years and eleven months, one for eleven years and four months, and the third for sixteen years and eleven months.
According to authorities, all three cops have been placed on administrative leave.
The department now intends to carry out two inquiries. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office and the APD Special Investigations Unit will collaborate on a criminal investigation, while the Office of Police Oversight will supervise the APD Internal Affairs Unit’s administrative probe.
According to a search warrant that was carried out at the residence, the suspect was armed with a rifle and dressed in tactical gear, according to Austin news station KXAN.
“Cutting instruments, body armour, and any tactical gear to include firearms were all said to be worn or used by the suspect,” the warrant reportedly states.
The warrant listed a number of items as evidence related to the murder charge, including night vision goggles, firearms and ammunition, targets hit by gunfire, explosive devices or materials for making bombs, and body armour and protective plates, including ballistic helmets and arm or leg protection.
“It is not uncommon for people with gun, body armour, or night vision to make homemade explosives,” the search warrant reportedly states.
