A former school police officer was found not guilty on all counts Wednesday in the first criminal trial stemming from the 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Adrian Gonzales had pleaded not guilty to all 29 counts of child abandonment and endangerment — one for each child inside the classrooms at the time of the shooting, including those slain and survivors.
Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The attacker, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was eventually shot and killed by law enforcement officers on the scene.
Families of children inside the school pleaded with police to enter the building and try to stop the shooter sooner, however. More than 400 officers from various agencies waited 77 minutes from the time they arrived on the scene before entering the classrooms, according to testimony.
In their opening statement on Jan. 6, state prosecutors argued that Gonzales had a decade of experience as a law enforcement officer and thousands of hours of training, but did not take action to stop the gunman when he was notified of his whereabouts.
“When you hear gunshots, you go to the gunfire,” state prosectors said.
Melodye Flores, a teacher’s aide and a witness called by the state, said she came across an officer, later revealed to be Gonzales, and told him where she’d just seen the shooter.
Rather than go into the building, “he just stayed there,” Flores testified. Gonzales’ lawyer told jurors that he “did the best he could with what he knew at the time.” The trial was held in nearby Corpus Christi, in Nueces County, at the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, who argued he could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde. The Uvalde school board fired Arredondo in August 2022 and suspended all district police in October 2022.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian. Recommended
Gonzales was indicted alongside Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo last year. Arredondo has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of child abandonment and endangerment.
