Carlos Cortez

How they died

Deadly force

Officer Matthew Betancourt responded to a call about a fire at Cortez's residence. He told Cortez, standing near the front door, to leave the burning house. Instead, Cortez approached the officer with a knife. The officer backed away, tripped on a fire department water line, then drew his pistol as he righted himself. He offered to holster his pistol if Cortez dropped his knife. Cortez took an axe from a nearby fire engine, approached the officer and raised it. The officer shot him in the chest. Cortez died at Valley Baptist Hospital. Texas Rangers Ricardo Rivera and Victor Escalon investigated.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Carlos Cortez, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources