Uvalde Officer Accused of Abandoning Kids During Shooting Is on Trial. Here's What Could Happen to Him If He's Convicted By Janelle Griffith

Jury selection began Monday, Jan. 5, in the trial of a former Uvalde school police officer on charges related to the slow law enforcement response to the May 2022 massacre at Robb Elementary School, where a teenage gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.

Adrian Gonzales is charged with 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment — one count for each child in the classroom. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial began Monday in Corpus Christi, Texas, about 200 miles southeast of Uvalde. His attorneys had sought a change of venue from Uvalde, arguing it would be highly unlikely to seat an impartial jury where the shooting took place.

Former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo, who, along with Gonzales, was among the first officers to respond to the scene, is expected to stand trial next. He has been charged with multiple counts of abandoning and endangering a child. He was placed on administrative leave a month after the massacre before being fired. Arredondo has also pleaded not guilty.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The pair were indicted in June 2024, two years after the shooting.

Related Stories

Families of Uvalde School Shooting Victims Announce $2M Settlement with City

A Year After Uvalde School Shooting, Murals Honor the 21 Victims

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. Nearly 400 officers from state, local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the school, a Justice Department report found. The report cited “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training” that contributed to failures and breakdowns in the response.

According to The Associated Press, jurors were given a list of questions that included what they knew about the law enforcement response and whether they contributed money to Uvalde victims. The judge overseeing the case, Sid Harle, told several hundred potential jurors that the court was not looking for jurors with no knowledge about the shooting but instead for people who can be impartial.

The trial was expected to last about two weeks, according to the AP, which also reported that Gonzales faces up to two years in prison if convicted.