CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Families of students killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre are among those who could testify at the trial of a police officer who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response and is charged with failing to protect children from the teenage gunman.
Opening statements were set to begin Tuesday in what is a rare case of charges being brought against an officer accused of not doing more to save lives. Authorities waited more than an hour to confront the shooter.
Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde schools officer who was among the first to respond to what was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney maintains that Gonzales tried to save children that day.
Gonzales faces 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if convicted.
He and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers facing criminal charges over their response. Arredondo’s trial has yet to be scheduled.
Some families of the victims expressed disappointment that not more officers were charged, given the nearly 400 federal, state, and local officers who arrived on scene shortly after the 2022 attack.
Terrified students inside classrooms called 911 while parents outside begged for intervention by officers, some of whom heard shots being fired while they stood in a hallway. A tactical team eventually entered the classroom and killed the shooter.
The gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary.
An investigation revealed that it took police 77 minutes from the time they arrived at the scene to breach the classroom and stop Salvador Ramos, the gunman who had been displaying violent tendencies in the months leading up to the tragedy.
The trial for Gonzales is expected to last approximately two weeks. Judge Sid Harle indicated that the court seeks impartial jurors familiar with the events of the shooting.
Among potential witnesses are FBI agents, Texas Rangers, emergency dispatchers, and school employees.
The trial was relocated to Corpus Christi on the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, who argued for a fair trial due to the heightened emotions surrounding the case in Uvalde. The indictment claims Gonzales put children in “imminent danger” by failing to act despite hearing gunfire.
State and federal reviews of the incident indicated cascading failures in law enforcement’s training, communication, leadership, and technology, specifically questioning the reasons for the prolonged response time.
According to the state review, Gonzales stated in interviews that he assisted in evacuating students when informed that children remained in other classrooms.
The prosecution may face challenges in securing a conviction, as juries are often hesitant to convict law enforcement personnel for inaction, similar to the outcomes seen following the Parkland, Florida school shooting in 2018, where former deputy Scot Peterson was acquitted of charges.
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Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, Juan A. Lozano in Houston, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
