Friends: Bellaire teen’s dream was to join Army

Bellaire High School student Cesar Cortes, 19, was shot and killed Tuesday during what authorities described as an accidental shooting. Bellaire High School student Cesar Cortes, 19, was shot and killed Tuesday during what authorities described as an accidental shooting. Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close Friends: Bellaire teen’s dream was to join Army 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

Cesar Cortes always wanted to be a soldier.

The 19-year-old Bellaire High School senior and Army recruit — killed Tuesday in what officials described as an accidental shooting on campus — was a respected member of the school’s JROTC 20th Battalion, whose mournful ranks filled Evelyn Park on Wednesday to honor him.

According to authorities and witnesses, he was fatally shot while another JROTC member showed him a gun.

Jordan Koy, dressed in black, often buried his face in his hands as he spoke of Cortes, the friend who always pushed him to work harder. The two of them were ticking down to June 29 when they would ship off together to basic training at Fort Benning in Georgia, he said.

“It's just shocking to see that taken away from him,” the 18-year-old said. “He had a great career ahead of him.”

CHARGES EXPLAINED: District attorney says fatal shooting was accidental

The shooting was not believed to be intentional, according to authorities. The suspected 16-year-old shooter — whose identity was not made public because he is a minor — was apprehended Tuesday night and has since been charged with manslaughter, rather than murder, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said at a news conference.

Though accidental, the shooting added a sense of insecurity on campus and comes after a threat of violence communicated to students in September and the discovery of a gun on campus in October. Some students now want tougher security measures, including the use of metal detectors.

Cortes and his classmate were not involved in a dispute, Ogg continued. The two were in the same battalion and friends, she said.

“He did not, based on the evidence, intend to kill his friend — but he did. That’s reckless,” Ogg said. “This young person is going to have to live with that for the rest of their life.”

Ogg said a second person, also unidentified, had also been detained, but they were released and are not being considered a suspect. The individual was initially apprehended because they had had contact with the accused gunman, she said.

‘It was too late’

During the Evelyn’s Park gathering, Koy recalled the moments leading up to the shooting in the JROTC facility and how he saw his classmate with the weapon. The teen was showing Koy and Cortes the gun. Koy entered a changing room and heard a gunshot ring out.

Cortes then cried out that he had been shot, Koy said.

He waited in the changing room until the alleged shooter had left the room. By then, Cortes was on the ground and the color was fading from his face.

“I didn’t want that to be my last moment with him but it was,” Koy said.

VIGIL: Bellaire community mourning after fatal shooting

It was still routine outside the school where 16-year-old Alex Osorio was waiting for Cortes to take him home. He kept calling the teen but he never picked up. And then news of the shooting hit.

Osorio called Cortes’ parents and quickly bumped into his father as law enforcement swarmed the school. The two of them rode to Ben Taub Hospital together, Osorio said.

Cortes’ father ordered Osorio to look for a parking spot as he ran inside the hospital. About 20 minutes passed before he found one and by then Cortes’ father had told him “it was too late.”

At a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at Evelyn’s Park, Dylan Cortes, the dead student’s brother, addressed the crowd on behalf of family members, many of whom were at the gathering..

“I will miss him, and he did not die in vain,” he said. “Because I will live forward for him and my family.”

Pistol still missing

Bellaire investigators expressed concern Wednesday evening that the weapon used in the shooting had not been found. It was not yet known how the teen obtained the gun, which Bellaire Police Lt. Greg Bartlett described as a .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol. It was not part of the JROTC program, officials said.

“Several people” reported having seen the teen with the pistol at school that morning, but no one relayed that information to law enforcement until after Cortes was killed, Bartlett continued.

"Unfortunately, kids tend to be tight-lipped to protect other students," he said, "But then we end up with a result like this from time to time."

The teen, who has refused to talk to Bellaire investigators since his arrest, had stashed the weapon in his waist band, Bartlett said.

Immediately after the shooting, the teen left the school but where he went has not been discerned. Police have not yet searched his family’s home.

Bartlett asked that if any Bellaire residents find the weapon, that they not touch it and to call the authorities.

‘We all knew this was coming’

The shooting occurred in HISD’s largest high school, a highly-regarded pillar of the district known for its strong academic achievement and diverse student body.

Among the district’s 23 comprehensive neighborhood high schools, Bellaire routinely ranks at or near the top for SAT scores and college enrollment rates. Bellaire also reported among the fewest discipline issues among HISD high schools, district data shows.

Bellaire had two instances of weapons possession on campus in 2018-19, with the rest of the district reporting 26 cases, according to HISD’s annual discipline data.

Grace Bandercan, who had known Cortes since middle school, joined classmates at Evelyn Park to grieve and brainstorm ideas for tackling campus security ahead of a return to class Thursday. Stacks of poster boards were strewn across picnic tables as roughly 50 students penned messages of support for Cortes, some of which will be displayed during a demonstration outside Bellaire on Friday.

"I feel like we all knew this was coming," Bandercan said. “I feel like the school really tries to ignore gun violence.”

Bandercan said she wants Bellaire to implement metal detectors, a clear backpack mandate and more police visibility.

Currently, HISD does not regularly use metal detectors at campuses or require clear backpacks. About 200 police officers are spread across the district’s 280 campuses, with Bellaire receiving enough funding to cover costs for one officer this year.

Several local districts made significant security changes following the May 2018 shooting at the Houston area’s Santa Fe High School, which left 10 people dead and 13 injured. Cy-Fair ISD, the region’s second-largest school district, instituted a policy requiring clear backpacks in schools. Clear Creek ISD, the region’s 11th-largest district, hired an additional 15 officers to patrol their schools.

HISD officials did not institute extensive changes at the time. District officials have said they plan to install security vestibules at campuses, many of which already have them in place.

Late Wednesday, school administrators notified parents that on Thursday students are to enter the campus through a single entry point and have their bags checked. In the same message, parents were told more long-term changes are in the works

In an earlier statement, HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said additional police officers, crisis counselors and administrative staff will be present at Bellaire when classes resume Thursday.

“Unfortunately, HISD is not immune to the plague of gun violence afflicting school campuses nationwide,” Lathan said. “We are committed to vigilantly protecting students and staff at our schools. HISD will continue to evaluate our security measures, as we regularly do, in order to maximize the safety of our children and staff.”

Julian Gill contributed to this report.

nicole.hensley@chron.com

jacob.carpenter@chron.com