EXCLUSIVE: Gunman who shot dead hero Austin SWAT officer had taken his mother and brother hostage before shooting them dead – as it’s revealed he was on a terror watchlist: Dead cop was medic at Parkland school shooting
The gunman who shot dead a heroic Texas SWAT officer during a hostage situation was on the terrorist watch list, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The gunman, who has not been officially named, was reported to the FBI before killing elite Austin police officer Jorge Pastore on Saturday.
Three others who died during the hostage situation were Eman Ahmed El Nemr-Nassar, a mother, Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, 35, her son, and Riad Mohamed Nassar, 32, her other son, as confirmed by members of Austin’s Muslim community.
Austin police previously identified the shooter as a man and was found dead in the home with two of his victims.
It comes as insiders also revealed that Pastore had previously been a paramedic in Florida and responded to the 2018 Parkland school shooting.
They revealed that his experiences during the massacre led him to join SWAT and quickly rise through the ranks.
Senior Patrol Officer Jorge Pastore was killed Saturday in Austin, Texas, while responding to a deadly hostage situation. Pastore is survived by his wife and two stepchildren
The FBI confirms it is “providing support” to Austin police as they investigate Pastore’s death and the hostage situation that led the SWAT team to respond to a South Austin home.
Police responded to the killer’s rampage at 2:49 a.m. on Saturday when a panicked woman “screamed for help” called 911 to say she had been stabbed, Austin police said.
The first police officers to arrive at the house were shot at, prompting SWAT members to respond.
When Pastore and other SWAT members entered, they were also met with heavy gunfire.
Pastore, 38, was killed and a second officer was injured. The police returned fire and killed the gunman. The bodies of two other victims and the suspect were found inside.
The dead in the house were to be buried at 1pm on Tuesday, in accordance with Muslim funerals.
“We encourage everyone to take time out of their busy schedules, attend the funeral and pray for the deceased,” Kareem Abdi, a local Muslim leader, said online.
‘May Allah forgive their shortcomings and place them in Jannat-ul-Firdous.’ (translates to paradise or garden.)
Residents of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred told CBS Austin that FBI agents have spoken to neighbors about the family involved in the hostage situation
Members of Austin’s Muslim community identified the family involved in the hostage situation in which an Austin police officer was killed
The FBI joined the investigation into the shooting of an Austin police officer after the suspect’s name was possibly linked to terror, sources tell DailyMail.com
According to Islamic tradition, bodies should be buried very quickly, no later than three days after death, a member of the Islamic Center of Greater Austin told DailyMail.com.
That means people attending a funeral may not even know the person being buried.
The organization no longer wanted to answer questions about the family and asked for privacy.
“Three family members of beloved brother Mohamed Nassar have passed away,” the Austin mosque shared online.
Mohamed, the father, is the owner of the house where Pastore was killed, according to property records.
According to the newspaper, he moved less than a year ago CBS Austin. It is not known what part of the shooter’s background the FBI is interested in.
The FBI’s San Antonio office, which serves Austin, confirmed it is “providing support” to the Austin Police Department but declined to comment further.
Pictured is Officer Jorge Pastore and his wife Kim Balint Pastore. He is also survived by two stepchildren
An aerial photo of the house where the hostage situation took place on Saturday morning
FBI agents arrive at the South Austin home where the officer was killed
To be put on the terror list, a law enforcement or intelligence agency must identify an individual as a potential terrorist threat to the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
That would put a person on the FBI’s terrorist watch list, officially the Terrorist Screening Center or TSC.
Authorities are believed to be gathering more information to determine whether the marked person has real links to terror or should be exterminated.
“TSC failed to ensure that information in the consolidated terrorist watch list database was complete and accurate,” the DOJ said in a 2007 report.
Meanwhile, details for Pastore’s funeral on Friday have also been released.
The SWAT officer, who was previously a paramedic in Florida, decided to become a cop after responding to the 2018 Parkland school shooting, in which 17 children were slaughtered and 17 others injured.
A candlelight vigil was held at City Hall in downtown Austin to honor Officer Jorge Pastore, who was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Nov. 11.
The Tanglewood Oaks neighborhood where the shooting occurred has been a crime scene since Saturday morning
Austin Police Department officers prepare to ride in a procession leaving Dell Seton Medical Center in downtown Austin following the shooting of a police officer early Saturday
Members of the Austin Fire Department bow their heads as they prepare to ride in a procession to the fallen officer
“He was a paramedic in Florida, and he was one of the first to arrive after the Parkland school shooting happened,” Michael Bullock, president-elect of the Austin Police Association, told DailyMail.com.
“After that happened, he made the decision that he wanted to be a part of something that worked to prevent those kinds of things from happening and that he didn’t have to come in after it all happened.”
The department plans to honor the elite officer with a parade through the streets of Austin, starting at 7 a.m. Friday.
“He embodied the very best of this profession and this department: that your job and your role is to be able to fight for other people, no matter the danger,” Bullock added.
“To show up at that scene, to know that other officers have already been shot at and that someone is actively trying to harm and kill other people… without hesitation, to go ahead and try to confront that evil offer. That’s probably the most honorable path anyone can take in this profession.”