What Was the Verdict in the Uvalde Officer Trial? Adrian Gonzales Acquitted

A Texas jury found former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales not guilty on all counts, a decision that brought a fresh wave of tears and anger to a community still reeling from the Robb Elementary shooting. After deliberating for more than seven hours on Wednesday, the jury cleared him of all 29 child endangerment charges.

As the verdict was read, Gonzales dropped his head into his hands. He hugged his lawyers, shook their hands, and appeared to be fighting back tears while sobs broke out among some in the gallery. The trial revisited the horrific events of May 2022, when a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers while law enforcement waited 77 agonizing minutes to finally enter the classroom and stop the attack.

Leaving the courthouse, Gonzales kept his statement short. "I want to start by thanking God for this -- my family, my wife and these guys -- he put them in my path," he said, gesturing to his legal team. When asked what he’ll do now, he simply said, "Picking up the pieces and moving forward."

His defense attorney, Nico LaHood, acknowledged the families’ pain. "We pray for them. We're sorry that they feel that way." He added that he’d spoken with jurors who were heartbroken by the case but ultimately found significant "gaps in the evidence."

For the victims' families, the verdict was another gut punch. "We had a little hope, but it wasn't enough," said Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie was killed. "Again, we are failed. I am pissed."

Jackie's uncle, Jesse Rizo, worried about the message the acquittal sends. "If you're an officer, you can simply stand by, stand down, stand idle, and not do anything and wait for everybody to be executed, killed, slaughtered, massacred," he said.

Julissa Rizo, Jackie's aunt, rejected the defense's portrayal of Gonzales as a hero. "There were two monsters on May 24," she stated firmly. "One was the shooter, and the other one was the one that never went in, that could have avoided this."

Prosecutors had argued that Gonzales, one of the first officers to arrive, ignored his training and put the children's lives at risk. A teaching aide testified that she told Gonzales exactly where the gunman was and begged him to do something, but he did "nothing." In a fiery closing argument, District Attorney Christina Mitchell urged the jury, "We cannot continue to let children die in vain."

The defense, however, successfully painted Gonzales as a scapegoat for a systemic breakdown of law enforcement that day. "The evidence showed that not only did he not fail, but he put himself in great danger," said his attorney, Jason Goss. They argued that Gonzales was actively gathering information, helping evacuate other children, and did eventually enter the school. The defense also reminded the jury that other officers were on scene and that one had a chance to shoot the gunman before he ever got inside the building.

This was only the second time in American history that an officer has been criminally tried for their response to a mass shooting. The first, in 2023, also ended in an acquittal for former deputy Scot Peterson, who failed to act during the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

Meanwhile, former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, the on-site commander during the attack, is also facing child endangerment charges. He has pleaded not guilty, but his case is on hold indefinitely.