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Jury clears officer of child endangerment in Uvalde case
A Texas jury delivered a not-guilty verdict Wednesday for Adrian Gonzales, a police officer accused of failing to act during the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Trial centered on response delays
Gonzales, 52, faced 29 counts of abandoning and endangering children-both deceased students and survivors. Prosecutors argued he should have immediately confronted the gunman upon arriving as the first officer at the scene.
"You can't stand by and allow it to happen," special prosecutor Bill Turner told jurors during closing arguments. He emphasized the need to stop the shooter within the critical early moments.
Defense calls charges an attempt to assign blame
Gonzales's attorney, Jason Goss, countered that prosecutors were unfairly targeting his client as a scapegoat for the broader failures of that day. The trial marked a rare instance in the U.S. where an officer was criminally charged for failing to protect children from harm.
Federal report highlighted systemic failures
A 2024 U.S. Justice Department report criticized the emergency response, citing a "lack of urgency" among the nearly 400 officers who arrived. The report detailed "cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training," noting that police took 77 minutes to confront and kill the shooter.
Families reach settlement over flawed response
Victims' families secured a $2 million settlement (£1.49 million) with the city of Uvalde in 2024, reflecting compensation for the botched response. The massacre remains one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Broader implications
The verdict reignites debates over police accountability in mass shootings, particularly in cases where systemic failures overshadow individual actions. Legal experts note the rarity of such prosecutions, underscoring the challenges of assigning criminal liability in complex emergency scenarios.
