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A former school district police officer was acquitted Wednesday evening of charges that he failed to confront the gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
A jury deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Adrian Gonzalez, 52, guilty of the May 24, 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Gonzalez appeared to be fighting back tears after the verdict was read by his attorneys.
The trial was a rare case in America of an officer being charged with a crime for failing to stop crime and protect lives. Gonzales faced up to two years in prison.
A hearing on how police handled the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, heard that police arrived three minutes after the gunman but left him alone at the school for more than an hour. One official responded by calling it a ‘disastrous failure’.
The shooter was in the school for 77 minutes
of About three weeks of testing It includes emotional testimonies from teachers who survived the shooting.
Prosecutors argued that Gonzalez did nothing to stop or interrupt the teenage gunman before he left the training and entered the school.
About 400 law enforcement officers eventually rushed to the school, and after 77 minutes a tactical team entered the classroom to confront and kill the gunman.
Gonzales was one of two officers charged, angering some of the victims’ families who want more officers to be held accountable.
Edited hallway video and audio from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, released by the Texas-based Austin American-Statesman newspaper, shows the shooter entering the school. It also shows how the police arrived later but remained in the hallway during and after the attack. Warning: This video is disturbing and contains gunshots.
Prosecutors said Gonzalez, who did not defend himself, was the first officer on the scene.
Gonzalez had previously remained calm during the altercation and insisted he never saw the gunman, and his attorneys argued that three officers on the other side of the school saw the gunman still outside and did not fire a shot.
Body camera footage shows Gonzalez as one of the first group of officers to enter the shadowy, smoky hallway as they try to reach the shooter in the classroom.
Contrary to the prosecution’s portrayal of a recalcitrant officer, Gonzalez’s lawyers say he put his life at risk when he entered the “hall of death” where others refused to go in the first moments.
“They’re trying to feed you a cowardly sandwich and they’re going to say Adrian gave it to you,” defense attorney Nico LaHood told jurors.
Prosecutors called 36 witnesses over nine days in the trial, which began on Jan. 5. Gonzalez’s attorneys presented only two witnesses, starting with a woman who works across the street from the school, who told jurors the shooter ducked between cars and tried to get out of sight.
Jurors heard emotional testimony from teachers who told of the terrifying moment the 18-year-old gunman walked into the school. Prosecutors presented graphic photos taken from the room and questioned officers describing the chaotic response.
Only Gonzalez and former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo have been charged with crimes for the delayed response. Arredondo is scheduled to be arraigned on the same charges as Gonzalez in 2024, but a trial date has not yet been set.