A school police officer in Uvalde, Texas, stood by during one of the deadliest school shootings in US history and made no attempt to distract or stop the gunman before he opened fire inside the classrooms, a prosecutor told a jury Wednesday.
Adrian Gonzales, who was among the first to respond to the attack in 2022, arrived while the teenage assailant was still outside the building and did not make a move, even when a teacher pointed out the direction of the shooter, special prosecutor Bill Turner said during opening statements of a criminal trial.
The officer only went inside Robb Elementary minutes later "after the damage had been done," Turner said.
Prosecutors focused sharply on Gonzales’ steps in the minutes after the shooting began and as the first officers arrived. They did not address the hundreds of other local, state and federal officers who arrived and waited more than an hour to confront the gunman.
Gonzales has pleaded not guilty in the case, which is a rare example of charges being brought against an officer who is accused of not doing more to save lives. His attorneys disputed accusations that he did nothing at what they called a chaotic scene, saying that Gonzales helped evacuate children as other police arrived.
"The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there," said defence attorney Nico LaHood. "He did what he could, with what he knew at the time."
Gonzales, who is no longer a Uvalde schools officer, faces 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if convicted.
"He could have stopped him, but he didn’t want to be the target," said Velma Lisa Duran, sister of teacher Irma Garcia, who was among the 19 students and two teachers who were killed.
Duran, who arrived at the courthouse to watch the beginning of the trial, said authorities stood by more than three years ago while her sister “died protecting children".
Students grabbed scissors to confront attacker
Defence attorneys described an officer who tried to assess where the gunman was while thinking he was being fired on without protection against a high-powered rifle.
Gonzales was among the first group to go into the building before they took fire from Ramos, the officer's attorneys said.
"This isn’t a man waiting around. This isn’t a man failing to act," defence attorney Jason Goss said.
Gonzales and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.
Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the police force, had extensive active shooter training, the special prosecutor said. "When you hear gunshots, you go to the gunfire," Turner said.
"When a child calls 911, we have a right to expect a response," Turner said, his voice trembling with emotion.
As Gonzales waited outside, children and teachers hid inside darkened classrooms and grabbed scissors "to confront a gunman," Turner said. "They did as they had been trained."
Families expected to testify
Some families of the victims were upset that more officers were not charged given that nearly 400 federal, state and local officers converged on the school soon after the attack.
Terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and parents outside begged for intervention by officers, some of whom could hear shots being fired while they stood in a hallway. A tactical team of officers eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.
An investigation found 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until the tactical team breached the classroom and killed Salvador Ramos, who was obsessed with violence and notoriety in the months leading up to the shooting.
The trial for Gonzales was expected to last about two weeks, Judge Sid Harle said.
Among the potential witnesses are FBI agents, Texas Rangers, emergency dispatchers, school employees and family members of the victims.
At the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, the trial was moved to Corpus Christi after they argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.
Reviews found many failures with police response
State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.
The officer’s attorneys told jurors that there was plenty of blame to go around — from the lack of security at the school to police policy — and that prosecutors will try to play on their emotions by showing photos from the scene.
"What the prosecution wants you to do is get mad at Adrian. They are going to try to play on your emotions," Goss said.
"The monster who hurt these children is dead," he said. "He did not get this justice."
Prosecutors likely will face a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018.
Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. It was the first such prosecution in the US for an on-campus shooting, and Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023.
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