- A jury acquitted Adrian Gonzales, former Uvalde officer, of child endangerment charges.
- The charges stemmed from his response during the May 2022 Robb Elementary shooting.
- Gonzales, emotional after the verdict, faced criticism from victims' families post-trial.
HOUSTON — A jury has acquitted a former school district police officer of all charges based on accusations he failed to act during the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas – in only the second prosecution of its kind.
Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officer, was the first member of law enforcement to get to the school while the 18-year-old gunman was still outside. He was found not guilty Wednesday of 29 counts of child endangerment or abandonment in what was the first criminal case stemming from the tragedy.
The May 2022 shooting left 19 children and two teachers dead. Gonzales, who pleaded not guilty to all counts, did not testify in his own defense.
The prosecution in the case claimed Gonzales failed to "follow and attempt to follow his active shooter training" and did nothing to stop the gunman in the early moments of the shooting, despite having enough time and information.
The defense argued Gonzales did not see the gunman when he arrived at the school and worked to evacuate students from classrooms.
Hundreds of police rushed to the school to respond, but it took 77 minutes for them to confront and kill the shooter – a lengthy time period that has led to years of investigations and finger-pointing about the delay.
Gonzales declined to speak directly to the victims' families in a news conference after the verdict.
"No, not right now," he said when CNN asked if he wanted to say anything to them.
The criminal case against Gonzales raised difficult legal questions about the responsibilities of police officers and who can be held accountable for a mass shooting. It was the second case ever brought against a school police officer accused of failing to act during an active shooter situation.
In the first such case, a Florida jury acquitted the school resource officer who stayed outside during the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after his attorney had argued the officer couldn't tell where the gunfire was coming from.
Judge Sid Harle read the verdict in court after the jury deliberated for just over seven hours, before thanking the jury for their "close attention" and patience during the trial. Gonzales would have faced six months to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000 for each count if convicted.
"I know it was not easy for you," Harle said to the jury after Gonzales was acquitted. "I know everybody was drafted, nobody volunteered."
The Texas jury began deliberations on Wednesday, three weeks into Gonzales' trial.
Moments before the verdict was read, family members of the victims were seen shaking their legs nervously. When Gonzales was acquitted, bereaved family members silently sobbed while others were seen holding their faces and wiping tears.
Three members of Gonzales' family were seen standing and holding each other while crying, and the former officer was also emotional and in tears as he was cleared of all charges before hugging his defense lawyers.
As families of the victims left the courtroom, Jesse Rizo, the uncle of a 9-year-old killed in the tragedy, 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?" Rizo told reporters.
