A 77-minute delay

Seventy-seven minutes passed from the time officers first arrived until a tactical team breached the classroom and killed gunman Salvador Ramos, according to multiple state and federal reports cited by the AP.

According to a report by state lawmakers, Gonzales was among the first officers in the building. After the gunman shot at them, Gonzales and other officers retreated without firing a shot. Gonzales later told investigators he helped break windows to remove students from other classrooms.

The indictment said he did not advance toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told where the shooter was.

Multiple reports from state and federal officials identified cascading failures in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of the children and teachers, according to the AP.

‘What about the other 374?’

Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the two teachers killed, said the charge count leaves her without answers.

“What about the other 374?” Duran said. “They all waited and allowed children and teachers to die.”

The charges against Gonzales reflect the dead and wounded children, but not the deaths of Garcia or the other teacher killed, Eva Mireles.

“Where is the justice in that?” Duran asked. “Did she not exist?”

The only other officer charged is former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who faces similar charges. His trial has not yet been set. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not respond to requests from the AP for comment on the indictments or whether a grand jury considered charging other officers.

Jesse Rizo, whose niece Jackie Cazares was among those killed, said the 9-year-old still had a pulse when rescuers finally reached her.

“It really bothers us a lot that maybe she could have lived,” he said.

Rizo, who won a seat on the school board in 2024, said many residents have moved on from May 24, 2022 — something he finds difficult to accept.

“I hear, ‘They tried the best they could’ and ‘Do you blame them? Would you have taken a bullet?’” Rizo said. “It angers me and frustrates me.”

Duran said the conviction of a single officer out of almost 400 would bring little in the way of justice.

“The only justice is going to be when they take their final breath,” she said. “And then God will judge them.”

Prosecutors are likely to face significant obstacles to winning a conviction. Juries have historically been reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as the Parkland, Florida, case demonstrated: sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in the 2018 attack there — the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting — and was acquitted by a jury in 2023.

The Gonzales trial was moved from Uvalde to Corpus Christi, 200 miles away, after defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed a change of venue would be the best way to find an impartial jury.

Craig Garnett, owner and publisher of the Uvalde Leader-News, said the relocation made sense for the city.

“The community was terribly divided in the aftermath,” Garnett said. If the trial were held in Uvalde, “you would have so many opportunities to inflame things.”

Multiple paths pursued

In Uvalde, a city of about 15,000 people, the Robb Elementary building remains standing but empty. Memorials of white crosses and flowers stand near the school sign, and murals of the victims cover walls around town.

The families pursued justice through multiple legal channels. Federal and state lawsuits against law enforcement, a gun manufacturer, a video game company and Meta Platforms over the shooting remain pending. Families also reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde that promised higher standards and better training for police.

Lobbying for stricter gun control at the state and federal level did not result in new legislation, but Texas lawmakers passed the Uvalde Strong Act, which sets new requirements for active shooter training and shooting response plans for police and schools.

Several family members ran for public office. Javier Cazares, Jackie’s father, ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate for the Uvalde County Commission in 2022. Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed, lost a 2023 bid for mayor of Uvalde.