A grieving sister was removed from a Texas courtroom this week after she interrupted testimony in the criminal trial of a former Uvalde school police officer charged over his response to the 2022 Robb Elementary massacre.
The emotional outburst came during proceedings in Corpus Christi in the case against former school district officer Adrian Gonzales, who faces 29 counts of child abandonment tied to the 19 students killed and 10 who survived. According to The Post Millennial, the judge ordered Velma Duran out of the courtroom on Tuesday and barred her from returning after she shouted during cross-examination of a prosecution witness.
Durans sister, Irma Garcia, was one of two teachers murdered on May 24, 2022, when a gunman opened fire inside Robb Elementary School, killing 19 children in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. The trial has become a focal point for families who believe law enforcement failures and bureaucratic hesitation cost innocent lives that day.
The disruption occurred near the end of testimony from Sgt. Joe Vasquez, one of the officers who confronted the shooter in the school hallway. During questioning by defense attorney Nico LaHood, Vasquez acknowledged that officers were positioned in what is known as a fatal funnel, a narrow hallway that limits tactical movement, reports the New York Post.
At that moment, Duran shouted from the gallery that her sister had entered that same hallway to shield her students from the gunman. She then demanded to know why police insisted they needed a key to enter the classroom, repeating the question as deputies escorted her from the courtroom while local media cameras recorded the scene.
The case against Gonzales centers on prosecutors claims that he delayed entering the school building and failed to act until after students had already been shot. Defense attorneys counter that he followed his training and responded based on the limited and chaotic information available at the time, insisting he did not intentionally delay or refuse to act.
The shooter, Salvador Ramos, was ultimately killed by law enforcement nearly 80 minutes after the attack began, a delay that has fueled national outrage over police hesitation and command failures. For many conservatives, the drawn-out response underscores the danger of overreliance on state authorities while law-abiding citizens are disarmed and left defenseless.
Judge Sid Harle ruled that Duran would not be allowed to return for the remainder of the trial, even as families continue to seek accountability from officials whose decisions are now under a legal microscope. Outside court, Duran said she was angered that no criminal charges were filed over the deaths of her sister and fellow teacher Eva Mireles, a fact that has deepened distrust of local institutions.
Duran later explained that she was overwhelmed by repeated references to her sisters classroom, including the display of graphic autopsy photos of students. She also criticized Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell, saying she had been told accountability would take time, a promise that for many grieving families now rings hollow.
Gonzales is one of only two officers criminally charged over the law enforcement response, a narrow scope that has left many wondering whether the system is protecting its own rather than fully confronting failure. As the trial continues, the clash between anguished families and a cautious legal establishment highlights a broader question: whether government officials who fail in their most basic duty to protect children will ever face meaningful consequences.
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