Ex-FBI agent killed in EPISD Police shooting

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The family of retired FBI Agent Julio Cordero is struggling to come to terms with what led up to his death after an encounter with an El Paso Independent School District Police Officer early Thursday morning, Aug. 22 at Franklin High School.

Cordero, 56, was killed at the school around 5:45 a.m. after an EPISD PD officer allegedly found him vandalizing the school his oldest son attends as a senior.

Days after his death, his family says they still haven’t been formally notified of his death by investigating agencies or given information on when they can begin to plan his funeral.

Cordero was born into a family of eight children to working-class parents who instilled in their children the importance of education. After all eight graduated from Bel Air High School, three Cordero boys — Pete, Marco, and Julio — joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the mid-1990s.

During his decorated career as an FBI agent, Cordero won numerous awards, including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for leading the investigation of Operation Poisoned Pawns. The investigation brought about more than 40 convictions of prominent El Pasoans in a web of massive public corruption. The convictions included former County Judge Anthony Cobos, local attorney Luther Jones, and other notable business leaders and elected officials in El Paso.

While Cordero’s career progressed, his personal life began to unravel. In 2014, a suicidal man jumped in front of Cordero’s car and died. Marco says Julio started to have nightmares.

Then, memories from a car accident in 1993 that claimed the life of Julio’s sister began to resurface. While Julio walked away from the crash with only a concussion, the crash that killed his sister and her boyfriend also began to haunt him. He started having guilt over their deaths, and that seeped into his relationships.

“He was a very respected lawman in the city. He made a big difference. For those not familiar with Poisoned Pawns, read up on it. That was his baby,” Marco said. “He had a stellar career. A career that a lot of us would like, but no profession should be more important than your family.”

After retiring from the FBI in 2018, Julio’s mental state continued to deteriorate. Despite attempts by family members to help him, Julio often stopped sleeping for days on end and experienced paranoia and PTSD symptoms. He would begin taking medication and get better, only to stop taking the medication and start the cycle over again.

“Beautiful people get sick. He was very well taken care of, and we, as an extended family, did everything we could to protect him. Outside of living his life, there was nothing more we could have done,” Marco Cordero says.

While Marco says Julio was not a violent man and never owned a gun after leaving the FBI, he had a few run-ins over the last two years stemming from his deteriorating mental state. He’d started breaking windows. Often, once he’d break them and snap out of his mental state, he’d go back to the businesses and apologize, offering to pay for the damages.

As a law enforcement family, the Corderos are now seeing the world from a different perspective.

“When he would get scared, he would freeze. It was like you were talking to him, but he couldn’t hear you. 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,” Marco Cordero said. “I don’t know, right? 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.’”

The family is left wondering why a less-lethal use of force was not used and says they’re hoping EPISD Police will release the body camera and surveillance footage to family friends in law enforcement, who can personally review the incident leading up to his death to determine if the use of force was warranted.

In the meantime, they are choosing to focus on the amazing and kind man Julio was, his incredible career as a lawman, and his best legacy — his four children.

If you or someone you know are experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach a trained counselor 24/7.