A former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officer has been acquitted on all charges connected to his response to the devastating 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas.
Adrian Gonzales faced 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment following the massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Nineteen of the charges were related to children who were killed, while ten involved students who survived.
The shooting occurred in May 2022 when gunman Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School. Law enforcement officers waited more than an hour before confronting Ramos, who was killed approximately 77 minutes after authorities first arrived on the scene.
Gonzales, who pleaded not guilty, was among the first officers to respond to the school. Court records showed that he had received SWAT training and previously served as an active-shooter training instructor for the school district's police force.
A Justice Department report later revealed that nearly 400 officers from local, state, and federal agencies responded to the shooting, citing widespread failures in leadership, communication, tactics, and training during the response.
Prosecutors argued that Gonzales and other officers failed to act quickly enough to stop the gunman, placing children in continued danger. Under Texas law, child endangerment charges are considered a felony, carrying potential jail time if convicted.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell told jurors that accountability was essential to prevent future tragedies, emphasizing that school shootings could happen anywhere if laws and responsibilities are not enforced.
After nearly three weeks of testimony, including 36 prosecution witnesses and only two defense witnesses, the jury deliberated for more than seven hours before returning a not-guilty verdict on all counts.
Following the verdict, Gonzales thanked God, his family, his defense attorneys, and the jury for considering all the evidence. When asked whether he had a message for the victims' families, he declined to comment.
Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo also faces similar charges and has pleaded not guilty. His case has been delayed indefinitely due to complications involving a federal lawsuit and the inability to interview certain federal agents.
The acquittal has reignited national conversations about police accountability, school safety, and the systemic failures exposed by one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.