Uvalde school officer did nothing as gunman approached, prosecutor tells jury

The criminal trial of a former Uvalde school police officer began Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, with a special prosecutor telling jurors that Adrian Gonzales stood by without acting while the gunman who would kill 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School was still outside and reachable. Special prosecutor Bill Turner said Gonzales arrived at the scene before the shooter entered the building but did not attempt to distract or engage him, even after a teacher pointed out the shooter’s direction. Gonzales went inside only “after the damage had been done,” Turner said.

The trial — the first criminal proceeding stemming from the May 2022 Uvalde massacre to reach a jury — tests a rarely prosecuted legal question: whether a police officer can be held criminally liable for failing to intervene during an active shooting. Gonzales, who has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison if convicted.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A school police officer who arrived at Robb Elementary School before a gunman entered the building stood by without acting, a special prosecutor told a jury Tuesday as the first criminal trial stemming from the 2022 Uvalde massacre got underway in a Corpus Christi courtroom.

Special prosecutor Bill Turner said Adrian Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the Uvalde school police force, was on the scene while the teenage assailant was still outside — and did not try to distract or engage him, even after a teacher pointed out the shooter’s direction. Gonzales entered the building only “after the damage had been done,” Turner said.

“When a child calls 911, we have a right to expect a response,” Turner said, his voice trembling with emotion.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment. Conviction could carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison. It is rare for an officer to face criminal charges for failing to do more to save lives.

Defense: he acted under impossible conditions

Defense attorneys disputed the prosecution’s account of a passive bystander, describing an officer who tried to assess the threat under fire without body armor to protect against a high-powered rifle. Gonzales was among the first group of officers to enter the building before they drew fire from shooter Salvador Ramos, his attorneys said.

“The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there,” said defense attorney Nico LaHood. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”

Defense attorney Jason Goss told jurors: “This isn’t a man waiting around. This isn’t a man failing to act.”

Goss also warned jurors against letting grief drive their verdict. “What the prosecution wants you to do is get mad at Adrian. They are going to try to play on your emotions,” he said. “The monster who hurt these children is dead. He did not get this justice.”

Teacher describes hiding, grabbing scissors

Stephanie Hale, who was teaching at Robb Elementary the day of the attack, testified about running with students from the playground to the school building and hiding in a darkened classroom. She described crawling on her belly across the floor to reach students who were struggling to stay calm.

Hale said she and other teachers grabbed scissors in case the gunman came into their room. “We got together and came up with a plan: To do what we had to do to defend” the children, she said. She later discovered some students had picked up safety scissors to mimic the teachers.

Hale’s testimony was halted after she said she saw a figure dressed in black approaching the school from an area near where Gonzales was positioned — a detail defense lawyers said had not appeared in earlier witness interviews and that bore directly on the officer’s location relative to the shooter. The judge agreed to hear arguments on the matter before Wednesday; witness testimony was set to resume Thursday morning.

Only two officers charged; families want more accountability

Gonzales and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the police response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.

An investigation found that 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until a tactical team breached the classroom and killed Ramos. Nearly 400 federal, state and local officers eventually converged on the school; some stood in a hallway and could hear shots while parents outside begged them to intervene.

Some victims’ families have expressed anger that more officers were not charged. Velma Lisa Duran, sister of teacher Irma Garcia — one of the two teachers killed — arrived at the courthouse early Tuesday to watch the proceedings.

“He could have stopped him, but he didn’t want to be the target,” Duran said. She said authorities stood by while her sister “died protecting children.”

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading failures in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long. Defense attorneys told jurors that blame spread widely — from a lack of school security to police policy — and cautioned that prosecutors would rely on emotional evidence to overcome those facts.

Rare prosecution; Parkland acquittal as precedent

Criminal charges against officers for failing to act during a mass shooting are uncommon, and prosecutors face a high bar for conviction. After the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy was acquitted by a jury after being charged with failing to confront the shooter — described as the first such prosecution in the United States for an on-campus shooting.

The Gonzales trial was moved from Uvalde to Corpus Christi after his attorneys argued he could not receive a fair trial in the community where the attack occurred. The proceeding is expected to last about two weeks. Some victims’ families are expected to testify, along with law enforcement agents, emergency dispatchers and school employees. Tissue boxes were brought to the families as the first 911 audio was played in court Tuesday; the cries in the courtroom were audible as the voices on the recordings grew more frantic.