Former Uvalde School Police Officer Acquitted on All Charges in Connection With His Response to 2022 Shooting By Ingrid Vasquez

Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Officer Adrian Gonzales has been acquitted on all charges related to his response to the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas, which left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Gonzales faced 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment in connection with the shooting. According to NBC News, 19 of the counts were related to children who died, while 10 were for those who survived. He pled not guilty.

Authorities waited more than an hour to confront the gunman, Salvador Ramos, who was not killed until approximately 77 minutes after law enforcement first arrived.

Gonzales, along with former Uvalde Consolidated School District police chief Pete Arredondo, was among the first officers to respond to the scene. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Gonzales had SWAT training and was the instructor for active shooter training for the Uvalde school district’s police force.

A Justice Department report previously found that nearly 400 officers from state, local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the school.

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The report cited “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training” that contributed to failures and breakdowns in the response.

According to KSAT, in Texas, child endangerment charges are considered a state felony, meaning that Gonzales could have faced between six months and two years in a state jail if convicted.

“I know this case is difficult, and it has been difficult. But we cannot continue to let children die in vain,” Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said before jurors deliberated, reports ABC News.

“What happened to Uvalde on May 24 can happen anywhere, at any time,” she continued, per the outlet. “If it’s going to happen, and if we have laws mandating what the responsibility of a law enforcement peace officer is for a school district, then we better be ready to back it up.”

A jury returned a not-guilty verdict on all counts on Wednesday, Jan 21, after approximately seven hours, six minutes and 30 seconds of deliberation, per KSAT.

The outlet reported that during the trial, which lasted nearly three weeks, the prosecution called 36 witnesses, while the defense called only two.

Arredondo also pleaded not guilty and has also been charged with multiple counts of abandoning and endangering a child. 

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According to ABC News, Arredondo’s case has been delayed indefinitely by an ongoing federal lawsuit filed after the U.S. Border Patrol refused Uvalde prosecutors’ efforts to interview Border Patrol agents who were part of the response team.

“First thing’s first: I want to start by thanking God for this — my family, my wife and these guys right here (the defense attorneys),” Gonzales told reporters after the verdict was read, per KSAT. “He put them in my path, you know? And I’m just thankful for that. Thank you for the jury for considering all the evidence and making that verdict.”

When asked if he had anything to say to the parents of the shooting victims, Gonzales told reporters, “No. Not right now.”