A decorated FBI agent in Texas has been revealed as the man who was shot and killed by police last week when he smashed windows at a Texas high school.
The family of retired Officer Julio Cordero, 56, has identified him as the person shot at Franklin High School in El Paso after school district police said there was an “altercation.” KTSM reported.
Cordero’s family confirmed that their son is a senior at school and explained that the successful former police officer had been battling mental health issues for years prior to this.
It is unclear whether he was still living with his family or whether he was armed when he appeared on the school campus last week.
Police were called to the campus shortly before 6 a.m. on Aug. 22 after someone reported a man had been breaking windows.
When a school district police officer arrived, he said the man there had been in some sort of altercation, although the El Paso Independent School District has not released details about that.
Classes were cancelled that day because Cordero’s body lay under a white sheet, visible from the street.
Julio Cordero, center holding the girl, was a decorated FBI agent who retired in 2018 after a distinguished career, his family said.
Franklin High School in El Paso, Texas, was placed on lockdown Thursday after a man was shot and killed by police Thursday morning before classes began for the day.
“Beautiful people get sick. He was very well cared for and we, as a family, did everything we could to protect him,” said Marco Cordero.
‘Other than live our lives, there was nothing else we could have done.’
The FBI office in El Paso confirmed that Special Agent Julio Cordero served from 1996 to 2019, according to the El Paso Times.
“We are saddened by the loss of one of our own,” spokeswoman Special Agent Jeanette Harper told the publication.
Since retiring from the FBI, Cordero has had several run-ins with the law as his mental health issues took hold and caused “breaks” with reality, his brother said.
The former special agent would respond by smashing windows, though he would return and pay for the damages after the destructive episode passed.
His relatives say he was never violent toward others and did not even own a gun after leaving the federal agency.
Retired FBI agent Julio Cordero (center) poses with family members at a recent graduation
Julio Cordero, one of eight siblings, followed his two brothers into the FBI in the 1990s.
During his time at the FBI, Julio Cordero was part of the dismantling of important criminal organizations.
Cordero’s work in fighting crime was recognized by the FBI on multiple occasions, his family said.
In the 1990s, Cordero followed his two brothers, Pete and Marco, into the world of bureaucracy after graduating from Bel Air High School in West Texas.
His was a distinguished career, as Cordero participated in Operation Baja Kings in 2005, which resulted in the shutdown of a major cocaine and methamphetamine operation and 66 federal indictments.
He also led the charge against a major public corruption scandal that brought down 40 elected officials and well-known El Pasoans, including attorney Luther Jones and County Judge Anthony Cobos, in 2007. It became known as Operation Poisoned Pawns.
“He was a very respected law enforcement officer in the city,” Marco added.
‘He made a huge difference. For those who don’t know Poisoned Pawns, read about it. That was his baby. He had a stellar career. A career that many of us would love, but no career should be more important than your family.’
His efforts were recognized numerous times by the federal government, but in 2014, his work began to take a toll after a suicidal man jumped in front of Cordero’s car and died.
The Cordero family posing together in El Paso, Texas
Julio Cordero posing for photos with his brothers
The incident gave him nightmares and brought back memories of a car he survived in years earlier, where Cordero’s sister and her boyfriend died.
After retiring from the FBI in 2019, his mental state deteriorated and Cordero went through cycles of sleepless days while experiencing paranoia and PTSD.
Although the medication helped, Cordero did not take it regularly, which caused him to sink back into manic states.
Meanwhile, the Cordero family said they had received few details about what happened in the final moments of their loved one’s life, leaving them as police speculating on likely scenarios.
Cordero struggled with mental illness for years, and his family said they did everything they could to care for him.
“When he got scared, he would freeze. It was like you were talking to him, but he couldn’t hear you,” Marco said.
‘He can’t process information, so it’s entirely possible that he’s being given orders and he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do, and part of it is fear, and part of it is PTSD that’s been triggered.
Suddenly I find myself on the other side of the fence and now I’m not in a rush to say, “Do what the police tell you.”