A Texas jury has acquitted former Uvalde police officer Adrian Gonzales of all 29 counts of abandoning and endangering a child stemming from the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre.
The verdict closes a closely watched case arising from one of the most searing law-enforcement failures in recent memory, as reported by Gateway Pundit. In May 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos murdered 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, after entering the building with an AR-style rifle.
According to multiple reports, Ramos remained inside the school for more than 40 minutes while desperate parents and onlookers pleaded with officers to storm the classrooms. Police arrived at 11:37 a.m., just four minutes after the gunman walked through the doors, yet he continued his killing spree with little effective interference from law enforcement.
Footage obtained by the Austin-American Statesman showed officers initially running down the hallway after hearing gunfire, only to halt and wait as the minutes ticked by. A separate report revealed that a Uvalde officer, not Gonzales, had a clear opportunity to shoot Ramos before he entered the school and opened fire on the children and teachers.
The Austin American-Statesman further documented that officers were in the hallway with rifles and at least one ballistic shield within ten minutes of the attacks onset. Gonzales was among the small group of officers later dubbed the hallway of death, a symbol of paralysis and indecision that fueled national outrage.
Prosecutors argued that Gonzales failed in his sworn duty to protect the children trapped inside the classrooms. During closing arguments on Wednesday morning, a prosecutor urged the jury to convict in order to send a message that law enforcement must fulfill their duty to protect when a gunman threatens children, CBS News reported.
The defense countered that Gonzales was being scapegoated for a broader systemic breakdown and chaotic command structure. Gonzales did not take the stand in his own defense. He has insisted he didnt freeze in the chaotic early moments and never saw the gunman, and his lawyers argue that three officers on the other side of the school saw the gunman still outside and didnt fire a shot, CBS News reported.
Ultimately, jurors rejected the prosecutions attempt to criminalize split-second decisions made amid confusion and poor leadership. The acquittal spares Gonzales a potential sentence of up to two years in prison, while leaving unresolved the deeper questions about institutional failure, accountability, and the right of families to expect competent protection from heavily funded government agencies.
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