Adrian Gonzales stands to hear verdict in court case | Screengrab from CourtTV/X
A former Uvalde school police officer was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he abandoned or endangered children during the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in one of the deadliest classroom attacks in U.S. history.
A jury in Nueces County deliberated for more than seven hours before unanimously finding Adrian Gonzales, 52, not guilty on all 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment, one for each of the 19 children slain and 10 injured in the attack.
Gonzales, wearing a blue suit, bowed his head as the verdict was read, then hugged his attorneys and appeared emotional, fighting back tears. He was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene on May 24, 2022, and one of only two charged in the botched law enforcement response that saw 376 federal, state, and local officers converge on the school.
It took 77 minutes from the initial police arrival until a tactical team entered a classroom and killed the teenage gunman, who fired an AR-15-style rifle.
Prosecutors argued Gonzales failed his duty by waiting three minutes outside the school before entering the campus, even after learning the shooter’s approximate location from a teaching aide who urged him to act. The gunman fired 117 rounds before Gonzales made any attempt to intervene, they said.
Despite knowing of ongoing gunfire, Gonzales did not try to engage, distract, or delay the attacker until after students were shot, special prosecutor Bill Turner said in closing arguments.
“If you have a duty to act, you can’t stand by while the child is in imminent danger,” Turner told jurors, NBC News reported. “If you have a duty to protect the child, you can’t stand by and allow it to happen.”
Turner highlighted teachers’ actions amid the chaos, saying they prioritized students’ safety.
“In that stress, teachers put their kids first,” he said. “In that stress, kids made ways to try to defend each other. In that stress, kids comforted teachers. In that stress, kids came first. Adrian Gonzales had a duty to put the kids first.”
District Attorney Christina Mitchell, in her final plea before deliberations, called the case difficult but necessary.
“I know this case is difficult, and it has been difficult. But we cannot continue to let children die in vain,” she said, ABC News reported. “What happened to Uvalde on May 24 can happen anywhere, at any time. 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.”
The aide testified she repeatedly pressed Gonzales to intervene, but he did nothing in those key moments. Prosecutors also said he failed to act once inside the building.
Defense attorneys countered that Gonzales gathered information, evacuated children from other classrooms, and entered a “hallway of death” amid gunfire, putting himself at risk. He never saw the gunman, they said, and three other officers who arrived shortly after had a clearer shot at stopping the attacker before he entered the school.
“The monster who hurt those kids is dead. That monster is dead,” defense attorney Jason Goss said in closings, per NBC News.
Goss acknowledged Gonzales’ duty but said the prosecution was driven by emotion over the gunman’s untriable crimes.
“The government, the power of the state, has decided that he has to pay for the failures of that day, for the mistakes that were made that day and for all the pain,” he said.
After the verdict, Goss told reporters: “The evidence showed that not only did he not fail, but he put himself in great danger.”
Defense attorney Nico LaHood, who spoke with some jurors, said they found gaps in the prosecution’s evidence.
“They were very mindful and deliberate,” LaHood said, per ABC. “Obviously, they were saddened, because they know what the other families are mourning still, but they said there were a lot of gaps in the evidence, and some of it didn’t make sense.”
A Texas House interim report noted that Gonzales helped evacuate students and called for SWAT, though the Uvalde police SWAT leader was already inside.
The defense sought a mistrial after a teacher unexpectedly altered her testimony, claiming she saw the gunman near Gonzales’ position — contradicting her prior statement in a state review. District Judge Sid Harle told jurors to disregard it.
The two-week trial was moved 200 miles from Uvalde to Corpus Christi due to extensive media coverage that could bias a local jury.
Gonzales briefly spoke outside the court, thanking God, his family, his wife, and his lawyers.
“I want to start by thanking God for this — my family, my wife, and these guys — He put them in my path,” he said, ABC reported. “Thank you for the jury, for considering all the evidence.”
Asked about his view on moving on, Gonzales replied, “Picking up the pieces and moving forward.”
On the families’ frustration, LaHood said: “We pray for them. We’re sorry that they feel that way. We understand that their separation from their loved one is going to be felt as long as they walk on this earth, and we don’t, we don’t ignore that. We acknowledge that we’re just going to continue to pray for them. So I’m very sorry that they feel that way,” ABC reported.
Victim family members in the courtroom reacted with stoicism or tears. Jesse Rizo, uncle of slain 9-year-old Jacklyn Cazares, said the verdict discourages police accountability.
“Now the message is clear,” Rizo said, NBC reported. “You’re an officer, you don’t have to do anything. You stand back and wait for the Army, for the Marines, everybody. You show up. No one takes accountability.”
Rizo added later, per ABC, “I respect the jury’s decision, but what message does it send? If you’re an officer, you can simply stand by, stand down, stand idle, and not do anything and wait for everybody to be executed, killed, slaughtered, massacred.”
Jacinto Cazares, Jacklyn’s father, called it another failure of the system. “We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough,” he said, ABC reported. “Again, we are failed. I don’t even know what to say.”
Cazares said he stayed composed for his daughter but was “pissed” after an “emotional roller coaster.”
Julissa Rizo, Jacklyn’s aunt, rejected the defense’s portrayal of Gonzales as heroic. “That’s not true,” she said, according to ABC. “There were two monsters on May 24. One was the shooter, and the other one was the one that never went in, that could have avoided this.”
Jurors heard graphic details, including a medical examiner’s descriptions of children’s wounds — some shot over a dozen times — and parents’ accounts of sending kids to an awards ceremony that turned chaotic.
Each count carried a maximum of two years in prison; a conviction could have meant life behind bars.
This marks the second U.S. prosecution of an officer for inaction in a school shooting. In 2023, a Florida jury acquitted former deputy Scot Peterson of child neglect and negligence charges over the 2018 Parkland massacre, citing his non-caregiver role and communication breakdowns.
Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo, the on-site commander, faces 10 similar counts and has pleaded not guilty. His trial is delayed indefinitely amid a federal lawsuit after U.S. Border Patrol refused interviews with agents, including two in the team that killed the gunman.
