Uvalde, Texas, school officer pleads not guilty to charges of failing to protect kids during attack

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — A former school police officer who was part of the slow law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of failing to take action as a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom.

Adrian Gonzales was among the nearly 400 law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene but then waited more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter inside the school.

During a court hearing in Uvalde, a city of roughly 15,000 people about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of San Antonio, teary-eyed family members of some of the victims watched as Gonzales was arraigned on charges of abandoning and failing to protect children who were killed and wounded.

Afterward, Gonzales left the courthouse and walked to his car as victims' relatives stared at him.

Some of the families have spent more than two years pressing for officers to face charges, and some have called for more officers to be charged.

“For only two to be indicted, there should have been more because there was a lot of ranking officers during that day that knew what to do but decided not to. But they only got these two,” Jerry Mata, whose 10-year-old daughter Tess was killed, said after the hearing.

“We’ll take what we get and we’re just gonna continue fighting for the kids and the two teachers and see it all the way through," Mata said.

Gonzales and former Uvalde schools police Chief Pete Arredondo were indicted by a grand jury in June. Arredondo waived his arraignment and entered a not guilty plea earlier this month. Both were released on bond following their indictments.

One of Gonzales' attorneys, Nico LaHood, said after the hearing that his client “feels he's innocent." LaHood, the former district attorney for Bexar County, said such charges against a law enforcement officer are “uncharted territory.”

“He feels all he did was try to show up to help those children," the lawyer said.

Although there is “justifiable, righteous anger in this situation,” Gonzales' defense team's position is that it shouldn't be directed at him, LaHood said.

“We have not seen or even heard of a theory of why Mr. Gonzales is being singled out,” he told reporters.

Javier Montemayor, an attorney for Arredondo, said his client also believes he isn't guilty.

“We do submit that these allegations not only against Mr. Arredondo, but against law enforcement in general, are not a common practice in the state of Texas. It's something that is unfounded," Montemayor told The Associated Press by phone Thursday.

The May 24, 2022, attack was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. The police response has been heavily criticized in state and federal investigations that described “cascading failures" in training, communication and leadership among officers who waited outside the building while some victims lay dying or begging for help.

Gonzales, 51, was among the first officers to arrive. He has been indicted on 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child, accused of abandoning his training and not confronting the shooter, even after hearing gunshots as he stood in a hallway.

Arredondo, 52, was the on-site commander that day. He is charged with 10 counts of abandoning or endangering a child. Arredondo failed to identify an active shooting, did not follow his training and made decisions that slowed the police response to stop a gunman who was “hunting” victims, according to the indictment.

Terrified students inside the classroom called 911 as parents begged officers to go in. A tactical team of officers eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.

Each charge against Gonzales and Arredondo carries up to two years in jail if convicted.

It is the latest — yet still rare — case in which a U.S. law enforcement officer was charged with allegedly failing to act during a school shooting. The first such case to go to trial was a sheriff’s deputy in Florida who did not confront the perpetrator of the 2018 Parkland massacre. The deputy was acquitted of felony neglect last year. A lawsuit by the victims’ families and survivors is pending.

Several families of Uvalde victims have filed federal and state lawsuits against law enforcement, social media and online gaming companies and the gun manufacturer that made the rifle the gunman used.

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This story was corrected to reflect that the shooting happened on May 24, 2022, not May 22, 2024, and that Pete Arredondo is 52 years old, not 53.

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Stengle reported from Dallas. AP reporter Jim Vertuno in Austin contributed to the report. Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.