Former School Police Officer Acquitted Over Uvalde Shooting Response
A Texas jury has cleared former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales of all criminal charges related to his actions during the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting. The verdict, delivered on Wednesday after more than seven hours of deliberation, represents a significant legal outcome in one of America's deadliest school massacres.
Not Guilty on All 29 Counts
Gonzales, 52, faced 29 separate charges of child endangerment, each carrying a potential two-year prison sentence. Prosecutors had alleged that he failed to confront the gunman during the initial minutes of the attack that ultimately claimed 19 children and two teachers. The Corpus Christi jury returned not-guilty verdicts on every count.
As the verdict was announced, Gonzales covered his head with his hands while his attorneys offered comforting pats on his back. In stark contrast, family members of the victims sat in shocked silence, with some wiping away tears and others staring ahead in disbelief at the courtroom outcome.
A Rare Criminal Case Against Police
This trial marked an unusual instance of a US police officer facing criminal prosecution for allegedly endangering lives by failing to intervene during an ongoing crime. Defence attorney Jason Goss argued passionately that prosecutors were attempting to make Gonzales a scapegoat for broader systemic failures.
"They have decided he has to pay for the pain of that day and it's not right," Goss told jurors during closing arguments. "This represents an attempt to assign individual blame for what were clearly collective failures."
The Events of May 24, 2022
Gonzales was among the first of more than 400 law enforcement officers to arrive at Robb Elementary School on that fateful day. The subsequent 77-minute delay before officers entered the classroom where the gunman was barricaded has become the subject of multiple investigations and widespread criticism.
Special prosecutor Bill Turner argued to the jury that Gonzales had a duty to act immediately upon arrival. "You can't stand by and allow it to happen," Turner emphasized during his closing statement. However, Gonzales maintained throughout the trial that he never saw the gunman and denied allegations that he froze during the chaotic initial response.
Trial Location and Broader Context
The nearly three-week trial was held in Corpus Christi, approximately 175 miles from Uvalde, after defence lawyers successfully argued that their client could not receive a fair trial in the small Texas community directly affected by the tragedy.
Gonzales represents only one of two individuals facing criminal charges related to the shooting response. Former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo is expected to stand trial later this year on similar charges and has entered a not-guilty plea.
Multiple state and federal investigations have concluded that law enforcement officers left the gunman alone with children while deliberating their response strategy. Former US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in 2024 that immediate police confrontation would likely have saved lives.
The Border Patrol-led tactical team that eventually intervened encountered what has become one of the highest death tolls in American school shooting history, marking a tragic endpoint to the delayed response that continues to generate legal and public scrutiny.
