On November 11, 2023, at 2:49 am, the Austin Police Department (Austin, TX) received a 9-1-1 call in southeast Austin where a female caller was screaming for help. Ultimately, it was determined the female was calling to report that her brother had stabbed her, as well as two other family members were still inside the house. At approximately 2:57 am Austin police officers arrived on the call labeled a “shoot/stab hotshot”. As officers gathered more information they learned that two other people were injured inside the home being held hostage. Based on this information, they attempted to enter the home and were fired upon by the assailant. The officers backed out but did not return fire. Because the assailant was armed and barricaded inside the home with two hostages, SWAT was called out at approximately 3:06 am. Knowing there was a highly motivated and well-armed suspect inside the residence who had freely shot at officers already and stabbed his family member – our SWAT team, without hesitation

or pause, breached the residence again to rescue the hostages and face the evil on the other side of the door. As SWAT entered the residence, the suspect let loose a barrage of gunfire. Despite being on the receiving end of gunfire, the SWAT team continued to push forward toward danger and ultimately eliminated the threat by killing the suspect. SWAT officers returned fire and during the exchange of gunfire, two SWAT officers were shot. One was taken to the hospital and thankfully recovering from his wounds. Jorge, despite the tremendous efforts of his fellow officers and the SWAT team medics unfortunately succumbed to his wounds and lost his life.

Jorge joined APD in 2019. He was a patrol officer in Henry and George sector. He proudly served in APD’s Honor Guard, Counter Assault Strike Team (CAST), Special Response Team (SRT), and SWAT Gold Team.