HOUSTON (AP) — Former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzalez was one of the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary School after a gunman opened fire on students and teachers.
Prosecutors say that instead of rushing to confront the shooter, Gonzalez took no action to protect the students. Many families of the 19 slain fourth-graders and two teachers believe that if Gonzalez and the nearly 400 responding officers had confronted the gunman earlier rather than waiting more than an hour, lives could have been saved.
More than three and a half years after the killings, the first criminal trial is about to begin over the delay in law enforcement's response to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
This is a rare case where a police officer can be convicted for allegedly failing to take action to stop a crime and protect lives.
Here's a look at the charges and legal issues surrounding the trial.
Former officer accused of endangering children
Gonzalez was charged with 29 counts of child endangerment for those killed and injured in the May 2022 shooting. The indictment alleges he placed children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to capture, distract or detain the shooter and by failing to supervise his active marksmanship training. The indictment says he did not move in the direction of the shooting despite hearing gunshots and being told where the shooter was.
Each count of child endangerment carries a potential penalty of up to two years in prison.
State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers from various agencies waited so long to confront and kill gunman Salvador Ramos.
Gonzalez's lawyer, Nico LaHood, said his client is innocent and public anger over the shooting is misdirected.
“He was focused on getting the kids out of that building,” LaHood said. “He knows where his heart was and what he was trying to do for these kids.”
Jury selection in Gonzalez's trial begins Jan. 5 in Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Uvalde. The trial was moved after defense attorneys said Gonzalez would not be able to get a fair trial in Uvalde.
The only defendants are Gonzalez, 52, and former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo. Arredondo was charged with multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. His trial has not been scheduled and he is also seeking a change of venue.
Prosecutors have not explained why only Gonzalez and Arredondo were charged. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not respond to requests for comment.
Rare criminal charges for police inaction
It's “highly unusual” for an officer to face trial for failure to act, said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center.
“At the end of the day, you're talking about convicting someone for failure to act, and that's always a difficult task,” Thompson said, “because you have to show that they didn't take reasonable steps.”
Phil Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University who has maintained a nationwide database of about 25,000 police arrests since 2005, said a preliminary search turned up only two such charges.
One involved Florida sheriff's deputy Scott Peterson, who was charged after the 2018 Parkland school massacre for allegedly failing to confront the shooter – the first such prosecution in the US for a campus shooting. In 2023, he was acquitted by a jury.
The second was the 2022 conviction of former Baltimore police officer Christopher Nguyen for failing to protect an assault victim. In July, the Maryland Supreme Court overturned that conviction, ruling that prosecutors had not proven Nguyen had a legal duty to protect the victim.
The Maryland judges cited a previous U.S. Supreme Court decision on the public duty doctrine, which holds that government officials such as police are generally responsible to the public at large rather than to specific individuals unless a special relationship exists.
Prosecutors face a high bar
Michael Wynn, a Houston criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor who was not involved in the case, said it would be difficult to secure a conviction.
“This is clearly gross negligence. I think it would be difficult to prove any criminal intent,” Wynn said.
But Thompson, the law professor, believes prosecutors may nonetheless be in a good position.
“You're talking about young children being killed and very long delays on the part of many officers,” she said. “I just feel like this is a different situation because of the enormous harm that has been done to so many children.”
___
Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed.
___
Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70
