Officer acquitted over failure at Texas school shooting
A former police officer has been acquitted of charges that he failed to confront a gunman at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school in the critical opening minutes of what would become one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before finding former Uvalde schools police officer Adrian Gonzalez, 52, not guilty in the first trial over law enforcement’s hesitant response to the May 24, 2022 attack at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Gonzales, flanked by his lawyers, appeared to fight back tears after the verdict was read in court Wednesday.
The trial was a rare case in the United States in which a police officer faces criminal charges for failing to stop crime and protect lives. Gonzales faced the possibility of up to two years in prison if convicted.
The hearing, which lasted about three weeks, included emotional statements from the teachers who were shot and survived. Prosecutors argued that Gonzales abandoned his education and did nothing to stop or interrupt the teenage gunman before he entered the school.
At least 370 law enforcement officers eventually rushed to the school, where 77 minutes passed before the tactical team finally entered the classroom to confront and kill the gunman.
Gonzales was one of only two officers charged, angering some victims’ families who said they wanted more officers to be held accountable for law enforcement’s response.
Gonzales was indicted on 29 counts of child abandonment and endangerment, each representing 19 students killed and 10 students injured.
Gonzales’ attorneys argued that he arrived at a chaotic scene of rifle shots echoing across the school grounds and that he never saw the gunman before the gunman entered the school. They also insisted that three other officers who arrived seconds later had a better chance of stopping the gunman.
They said Gonzales risked his life when he joined the group of five officers trying to reach the classroom before being driven back by rifle fire.
They said Gonzales helped evacuate children from other classrooms before the gunman was killed.
Gonzales’ trial focused tightly on his actions in the early moments of the attack, but prosecutors also offered vivid and emotional testimony as a result of police failure.
