The trial of former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales began Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, with prosecutors saying he stood by as a mass shooting unfolded inside Robb Elementary School in 2022, according to Reuters.
Gonzales, 52, is charged with 29 counts of child endangerment, tied to each child who was inside the classrooms during the attack. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison.
He has pleaded not guilty, per Fox News.
Prosecutors told jurors that Gonzales was among the first officers to arrive on campus and was informed within seconds where the shooter was located. Despite that, they say he remained outside as gunfire erupted.
“As the slaughter begins,” Gonzales stayed back, special prosecutor Bill Turner told the jury. The moment was tense as Reuters reports that his voice broke during opening statements.
Turner said Gonzales relayed information over his radio but failed to move toward the gunfire, even after shots were fired into classrooms from outside the building.
Children and teachers trapped inside made repeated 911 calls, describing bodies around them while waiting for help that did not come, findings from state and federal investigations revealed.
The shooting ultimately killed 19 students and two teachers. The gunman, an 18-year-old armed with an AR-style rifle, was not confronted by police until 77 minutes after officers arrived, when a Border Patrol-led tactical team breached the classroom.
A federal Justice Department review later concluded that lives would have been saved if officers had acted immediately, former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in 2024.
“SHOTS FIRED IN THE BUILDING!” Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow in the #Uvalde School Massacre trial.
Former school resource officer #AdrianGonzales faces 29 counts of child endangerment and abandonment after 19 children and two teachers were killed in the 2022… pic.twitter.com/0kzl25HxvC
— Court TV (@CourtTV) January 5, 2026
The defense painted a different picture.
Gonzales’ attorneys told jurors the scene was chaotic and confusing, and that their client never fully understood the shooter’s location or intent. They argued Gonzales initially believed he was responding to a suspect fleeing a vehicle crash and shooting at a nearby funeral home.
“He did what he could with what he knew at the time,” defense attorney Nico LaHood said, urging jurors to separate emotion from evidence.
CNN noted that prosecutors emphasized how a teacher, Melodye Flores, directed Gonzales toward the threat and warned him that shots were ringing out, undercutting claims of confusion. “This is not confusion,” Turner told jurors. “Adrian Gonzales remains.”
WARNING: This video will change you.
Footage of the shooter and the police response from inside Robb Elementary in Uvalde, TX.
— Eleven Films (@ElevenFilms) July 13, 2022
Defense lawyer Jason Goss acknowledged the emotional weight of the case but argued Gonzales was not the killer and should not be made a stand-in for the gunman.
“The monster who did this is dead,” Goss said. “He doesn’t get this justice.”
The trial was moved from Uvalde to Corpus Christi, about 200 miles away, after defense lawyers argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in the community where the shooting occurred.
A former school police officer who was part of the slow law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting in #Uvalde, Texas, pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child endangerment and abandonment. #AdrianGonzales was among the nearly 400 law enforcement personnel who responded… pic.twitter.com/ZXcldOeBRg
— Court TV (@CourtTV) January 2, 2026
Gonzales is one of two officers criminally charged over the police response. Former Uvalde school police chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo faces 10 counts of the same charge. His trial has not yet been scheduled.
The case is only the second criminal prosecution of a U.S. police officer over inaction during a school shooting. In 2023, a Florida jury acquitted a former school resource officer who stayed outside during the Parkland massacre, a precedent both sides referenced during jury selection.
Jurors are expected to hear testimony from law enforcement officers, dispatchers, and school employees over the coming weeks, with graphic evidence tightly controlled by the judge.
