A Texas jury acquitted former police officer Adrian Gonzales on Wednesday of all charges related to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting. The shooting at Robb Elementary School left 19 students and two teachers dead.
Gonzales, 52, faced 29 felony counts of child endangerment. Prosecutors argued he failed to confront the shooter in the first minutes of the attack. Each count carried a maximum two-year prison sentence.
The Corpus Christi jury deliberated for more than seven hours before returning a not guilty verdict. Gonzales was among the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the school on May 24, 2022, but police waited 77 minutes before entering the classroom where the gunman was hiding.
During the trial, defense lawyer Jason Goss told jurors that Gonzales was being made a scapegoat for broader police failures. “They have decided he has to pay for the pain of that day, and it’s not right,” Goss said.
Special Prosecutor Bill Turner argued that Gonzales should not have stood by while children were in danger. Gonzales testified he could not see the shooter and denied freezing during the initial chaotic moments.
The nearly three-week trial was moved to Corpus Christi, about 175 miles from Uvalde, after the defense said Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in his hometown.
Gonzales is one of only two people criminally charged in connection with the shooting. Former Uvalde police chief Pete Arredondo is expected to face a similar trial later this year. He has pleaded not guilty.
Investigations found officers left the 18-year-old gunman alone inside the classroom with children while deciding how to respond. A tactical team led by Border Patrol officers eventually entered, but the delay contributed to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
The Uvalde tragedy has sparked ongoing debates over gun control and police response. Former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland noted in 2024 that lives could have been saved if officers had acted immediately.
