One of the first officers to arrive at the Uvalde school shooting in Texas pleaded not guilty on Thursday to more than two dozen charges.
Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officer, faces 29 counts of abandoning and endangering a child in connection with the May 2022 atrocity that killed 19 children and two instructors. If convicted, the statutory crime is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Gonzales was charged Thursday, more than two years after the bloodiest school shooting in a decade. It took law police 77 minutes to apprehend the gunman who walked into Robb Elementary School. As victims lay dead or dying inside classrooms, officers were captured on film waiting outside in halls.
The inept response to the slaughter has been dubbed an “abject failure,” with officials and experts blaming numerous organizations.
Texas Officer Rescues Man From Fiery Tesla in Dramatic July 19 Incident
Gonzales and Pete Arredondo, the former Uvalde schools police chief, are the only law enforcement officers who have been charged criminally thus far.
According to Gonzales’ indictment, the former cop did not “follow his active shooter training.”
“After hearing gunshots and after being advised of the general location of the shooter and having time to respond to the shooter, the said Adrian Gonzales failed to engage, distract or delay the shooter and failed to attempt to engage, distract and delay the shooter, and failed to otherwise act in a way to impede the shooter until after the shooter entered rooms 111 and 112 of Robb Elementary School and shot at a child or children in Rooms 111 and 112,” according to the accusation.
Gonzales declined to have the charges read in court on Thursday. When questioned if he understood the charges brought against him, he merely said, “Yes sir.”
Approximately 40 families of the murdered and survivors filled the courtroom for the arraignment. After the hearing, some of the victims’ relatives followed Gonzales to his car, shouting, “Say you’re sorry!”
Outside court, Gonzales’ attorney, Nico LaHood, stated that his client “feels he’s innocent.”
“There were more than 370 officers there. “We haven’t seen or heard of a theory explaining why Mr. Gonzales is being singled out,” LaHood said. “We’ll talk about that more after we see the discovery. But it will be a long process.”
Gonzales told authorities that he was at high school when he heard about a vehicle collision at Robb Elementary and went to investigate. He claimed he heard bullets and approached the south hallway alongside Arredondo. Gonzales stated that he attempted to call for a SWAT unit on his radio but was unable to communicate inside the school building, so he fled.
“Once I got out to get radio reception, I never went back in,” Gonzales told investigators.
Father and Son Charged in Fentanyl-laced Overdose Deaths of Three Sussex Borough Residents
While the gunman roamed freely inside the school, Gonzales said he spent most of his time waiting with emergency medics outside the west door. He stated that he discovered a set of keys and a floor layout of the school, which had been sought by a Texas Ranger on the scene.
Gonzales was hired by the Uvalde school district in July 2021 and left in February 2023. The Uvalde News Leader said that no specific explanation was offered for his resignation.
According to the indictment, Arredondo, who was regarded as the de facto incident commander at the site, is charged with ten counts of child endangerment and known criminal negligence.
The Uvalde School Board fired Arredondo three months after the shooting. He renounced his right to be arraigned and pleaded not guilty last week, according to CNN.
According to Uvalde County Jail records, Arredondo and Gonzales were each released on a $10,000 bail.
Gonzales’ next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on September 16.