What Police Didn’t Do in Uvalde Is Now on Trial in Texas
A major and closely watched trial tied to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is now underway in Texas.
Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officer Adrian Gonzales went on trial starting Jan. 5, with jury selection beginning the same day. The case has been moved from Uvalde to Corpus Christi following a change of venue and is expected to last two to three weeks.
Gonzales faces 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child — 19 tied to children who were killed and 10 connected to those who were wounded during the May 24, 2022 shooting. This marks the first time in Texas a police officer has been criminally charged under this statute for alleged inaction during an active shooter situation.
Prosecutors argue Gonzales failed to engage, distract, or move toward the shooter, despite hearing gunfire and being trained to confront active threats. Body camera footage shows officers arriving at Robb Elementary as warnings of an armed suspect were being broadcast. Seventy-seven minutes passed before tactical teams entered and killed the gunman.
Gonzales has said he did not initially understand the situation to be an active shooter and believed his radio was not working inside the building. He also stated he did not know children were still alive in the classrooms.
A later review found the gunman was repeatedly and incorrectly described as “barricaded” or “contained,” a designation experts say delayed action when lives were still at risk.
Jurors will now decide whether Gonzales’ actions — or lack of action — crossed the line from failure into criminal conduct.
Former Uvalde police chief Pete Arredondo also faces similar charges and is awaiting trial. Out of hundreds of officers who responded that day, they are the only two charged in connection with the response.
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