FORMER DECORATED FBI AGENT WAS MENTALLY ILL WHEN SHOT DEAD BY POLICE

Man shot dead by police at El Paso high school was a decorated retired FBI agent

 

By Maryann Martinez

 

Daily Mail

Aug 26, 2024

 

Julio Cordero dealt with mental illness for years, with family members saying they did everything they could to look after him

 

A decorated FBI agent in Texas has been revealed as the man who was shot and killed by police last week as he broke windows at a Texas high school. 

The family of retired agent Julio Cordero, 56, identified him as the person who was shot at Franklin High School in El Paso after school district police claim there was an 'altercation,' reported KTSM. 

Cordero's relatives confirmed his son is a senior at the school, and they explained the accomplished former law enforcement officer had been battling mental health issues for years leading up to this. 

It's unclear if he was still living with his family, or if he was armed when he appeared on the school campus last week.  

Police were called to the campus just before 6 a.m. Aug. 22 after someone reported a man had been smashing windows. 

When a cop with the school district arrived, he claimed the man there was some sort of altercation, although the El Paso Independent School District has not released details about it.

Classes were cancelled that day as Cordero's body lay underneath a white sheet, visible form 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 closed Thursday after a man was shot and killed by police Thursday morning before classes had started for the day

 

'Beautiful people get sick. He was very well taken care of, and we, as an extended family, did everything we could to protect him,' Marco Cordero stated. 

'Outside of living his life, there was nothing more we could have done.'

The FBI El Paso office confirmed Special Agent Julio Cordero served from 1996 to 2019, according to the El Paso Times.

'We are saddened at the loss of one of our own,' spokeswoman Special Agent Jeanette Harper told the publication.

Since his retirement from the FBI, Cordero had had several run-ins with the law as mental health issues would take hold and cause 'breaks' from reality, his brother stated.

The former special agent would respond by breaking windows, although he would go back and pay for the damage after the destructive episode would pass. 

His relatives say he was never violent with other people and didn't even own a gun after leaving the federal agency. 

 

Retired FBI agent Julio Cordero (center) posing with his family members at a recent graduation 

Julio Cordero, one of eight siblings, followed his two brothers into the FBI in the 90s

Cordero's work to fight crime was recognized by the FBI on multiple occasions, his family said

 

In the 90s, Cordero followed his two brothers-- Pete and Marco-- into the bureau after graduating from Bel Air High School in West Texas.

His was a distinguished career, as Cordero took part of Operation Baja Kings in 2005, which resulted in the shutdown of a major cocaine and crystal meth operation and 66 federal indictments. 

He also led the charge into a major public corruption scandal that brought down 40 elected officials and well-known El Pasoans, like attorney Luther Jones and County Judge Anthony Cobos, in 2007. It was known as Operation Poisoned Pawns.

'He was a very respected lawman in the city,' Marco added.

'He made a big difference. For those not familiar with Poisoned Pawns, read up on it. That was his baby. He had a stellar career. A career that a lot of us would like, but no profession should be more important than your family.'

His efforts were recognized numerous times by the federal government, but by 2014, his work began to take a toll on him 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 triggered nightmares and brought back memories from a car he survived years earlier where Cordero's sister and her boyfriend died.

After his 2019 retirement from the FBI, his mental state declined as Cordero engaged in cycles of not sleeping for days while experiencing paranoia and PTSD.

Although medication did help him, Cordero didn't regularly take it, plunging him back into manic states.

Meanwhile, the Cordero family said it had received few details about what happened in the final moments of their loved one's life-- leaving them as cops to speculate on likely scenarios.  

'When he would get 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 very possible that they’re giving him commands, and he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do, and part of it’s fear, and the other part is PTSD that kicked in.

Suddenly, I find myself on the other side of the fence, and now I’m not so quick to say, "Do what the cops tell you to do."'