First trial set for officer accused in delayed response

A first criminal trial related to the police response to the May 2022 Uvalde school shooting is scheduled to begin with jury selection in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Jan. 5. The defendant is former Uvalde, Texas, schools police Officer Adrian Gonzales, who is among the first officers alleged to have arrived at Robb Elementary after the gunman opened fire on students and teachers, according to the charging information described in the case.

Prosecutors allege that instead of rushing in to confront the shooter, Gonzales failed to take action to protect students. Many families of the 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers killed in the attack believe that if Gonzales and the nearly 400 officers who responded had confronted the gunman sooner, lives might have been saved.

Charges and what prosecutors must prove

Gonzales has been charged with 29 counts of child endangerment tied to those killed and injured in the May 2022 shooting. The indictment alleges that Gonzales placed children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his active shooter training, and it says he did not advance toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told where the shooter was located.

Each child endangerment count carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison.

Venue change and other officer charges

Defense attorneys argued that Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde, and the trial was moved as a result. Gonzales is 52. He and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only officers charged: Gonzales on multiple counts of child endangerment, and Arredondo on multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment.

Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled, and he is also seeking a change of venue. Prosecutors have not explained why only Gonzales and Arredondo were charged, and Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment.

Background on how reviews framed the response

More than 3½ years after the killings, the case comes amid state and federal reviews that cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology. Those reviews questioned why officers from multiple agencies waited so long before confronting and killing the gunman, Salvador Ramos.

Defense response

Gonzales’ attorney, Nico LaHood, said the case is misguided and that his client is innocent. LaHood said, “He was focused on getting children out of that building,” and added, “He knows where his heart was and what he tried to do for those children.”

University of Houston Law Center professor Sandra Guerra Thompson said it is “extremely unusual” for an officer to stand trial for not taking action. She said, “At the end of the day, you’re talking about convicting someone for failing to act and that’s always a challenge,” because prosecutors must show the officer failed to take reasonable steps.

Phil Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University who maintains a nationwide database of roughly 25,000 cases of police officers arrested since 2005, said a preliminary search found only two similar prosecutions. One was the Florida case involving former sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson, charged after the 2018 Parkland school massacre for allegedly failing to confront the shooter; Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023. The other was the 2022 conviction of former Baltimore police officer Christopher Nguyen for failing to protect an assault victim; the Maryland Supreme Court overturned that conviction in July, ruling prosecutors had not shown Nguyen had a legal duty to protect the victim.

In the Maryland decision, justices cited a prior U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the public duty doctrine, which holds that government officials like police generally owe a duty to the public at large rather than to specific individuals unless a special relationship exists.

Prosecutors face a high bar, but experts differ on odds

Michael Wynne, a Houston criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor not involved in the case, said securing a conviction will be difficult. Wynne said, “This is clearly gross negligence,” and added, “I think it’s going to be difficult to prove some type of criminal malintent.”

Thompson said prosecutors may nonetheless be well positioned in this case because of what she described as the combination of factors involved. She said, “You’re talking about little children who are being slaughtered and a very long delay by a lot of officers,” and concluded, “I just feel like this is a different situation because of the tremendous harm that was done to so many children.”