Texas court acquits Uvalde police officer on charges tied to 2022 school shooting – JURIST

A Texas court found a former school police officer not guilty on charges stemming from the apparently delayed police response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Jesse Rizo, uncle of a 9-year-old killed in the shooting, said the verdict “sends a signal that you entrust a school system, a school police officer to do what is right, and yet they have failed over and over. I respect the jury’s decision but what message does it send? Wait for everybody to be killed? Slaughtered? Massacred? Is that the message that you send today?”

Former officer Adrian Gonzales was indicted on 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child–one charge for each of the 19 students who died and each of 10 students who survived the incident. He was one of the first officers to arrive at the school after police received reports of a shooter. The mass shooting incident reportedly lasted 77 minutes and came to include 376 police officers.

The indictment alleged that Gonzalez “failed to engage, distract, or delay” the shooter and “failed to follow…his active shooter training.”

Following the verdict, Gonzales lawyer Jason Goss defended the former officer’s character and decision-making, stating:

The evidence showed that not only did he not fail, but he put himself in great danger. So, you can imagine how somebody who has had the entire country look at him as somebody who was not willing to do his duty. He is a proud man who does do his duty. And he went in there. When it was time for him to go, he went in there.

Former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo is the only other officer facing charges related to the incident. He is indicted on 10 counts of abandoning or endangering a child. Arredondo has pleaded not guilty, and his trial has not yet been set.

In May 2024, families of killed and injured children announced a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde. The agreement included additional mandates regarding officer training, performance standards, and funding for community mental health services.