Families who lost loved ones in the 2022 attack on primary school In Uvalde, Texas, he sought it out for nearly four years To hold accountable Police who waited more than an hour to confront the shooter while children and teachers lay dead or wounded in classrooms.
Now one of the first officers on the scene is about to do just that His trial On multiple charges of child abandonment and child endangerment. Former Uvalde Schools Police Officer Adrian Gonzalez has been accused of ignoring his training in crises with deadly consequences. His lawyer insists he was focused on helping the children escape the building.
The trial, which begins Monday, provides one of the last opportunities to see the police answer to the long delay. The families have pinned their hopes on a jury after lawmakers rejected their gun control efforts, and their lawsuits remain unresolved. A few parents have run for political office seeking change, with mixed results.
The actions would provide a rare example of an officer being criminally charged for not doing more to stop crime and protect lives.
Jesse Rizzo’s niece was one of 19 children and teachers killed by the teenage gunman in one of the deadliest school shootings in US history. Nine-year-old Jackie Cazares still had a pulse when rescuers finally reached her, Rizzo said.
“It really upsets us a lot that she could have possibly lived,” he said.
Only two of 376 officers Charges have been filed by local, state and federal agencies on the scene — a fact that haunts Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister, Irma Garcia, was one of the teachers who were shot and killed.
“What about the other 374?” Duran asked through tears. “They all waited and let the children and teachers die.”
The charges reflect the dead and injured children, but not the death of her sister or the death of the other teacher who was killed.
“Where is the justice in that?” Duran asked. “Wasn’t she there?”
Prosecutors will likely face a high hurdle to winning a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as we have seen yet The 2018 Parkland, Florida, school massacre.
Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. This was the first trial of its kind in the United States for a campus shooting, and Peterson was He was acquitted By a jury in 2023.
Police and Texas Governor Greg Abbott initially said quick law enforcement actions killed Uvalde gunman Salvador Ramos and saved lives. But this version quickly disintegrated, as the families described He begged the police to go to the building 911 calls emerged from students asking for help.
The truth is that it was 77 minutes from the time officers first arrived until a tactical team stormed the classroom and killed Ramos.
Multiple reports of state and federal officials cataloged cascading problems in law enforcement training, communications, leadership and technology, questioning whether officers were prioritizing their own lives over the lives of children and teachers.
Gonzalez was charged two years later in an indictment that alleged he placed children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the gunman and not following his active shooter training.
The indictment stated that he did not move towards the shooting despite hearing gunshots and being told where the shooting was.
The only other officer charged is a former officer Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo. His trial date on similar charges has not yet been set.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not respond to AP requests for comment on the indictments or whether the grand jury has considered indicting other officers.
According to a report by state lawmakers, Gonzalez was among the first officers to arrive at the building. They heard gunfire and retreated without firing a shot after Ramos opened fire on them.
Gonzalez told investigators he later helped break windows to get students out of other classrooms.
“He was focused on getting the kids out of that building,” said Gonzalez’s attorney, Nico LaHood, a former San Antonio prosecutor. “He knows where his heart was and what he tried to do for these kids.”
The trial was moved from Uvalde to Corpus Christi, 200 miles away, after defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed that a change of venue would be the best way to find an impartial jury.
In Uvalde, population about 15,000, the Rupp Elementary School building still stands, but is empty. A memorial of 21 crosses and white flowers is placed in front of the school banner. Another memorial is displayed in Water Fountain Square downtown. Murals of the victims cover the walls of buildings across the city.
Craig Garnett, magazine owner and publisher Uvalde news leader People who were not directly affected by the attack “found it very easy to move on,” the newspaper said.
Garnett also believes getting the trial out of Uvalde was a good move for the city.
“The community was terribly divided in the aftermath,” he said. If the trial had been held there, “you would have had plenty of opportunities to inflame things.”
The parents of some of the victims sought political office, but without much success.
Javier Cazares, Jackie’s father, ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for the Uvalde County Commission as a write-in candidate on a platform that called for more rigorous police training. Kimberly Mata Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was murdered, made a bid for mayor in her memory in 2023 but lost.
Rizzo, who won a seat on the school board in 2024, agrees that many Uvalde residents have moved on May 24, 2022. He finds that crazy.
“I heard, ‘They did their best,’ and ‘Do you blame them?'” Rizzo said. Would you have taken a bullet?'” “It makes me angry and frustrated.”
Uvalde has a strong tradition of supporting law enforcement. Two of those killed came from law enforcement families.
Mata Rubio’s husband was the city’s deputy mayor who went to the school after the attack began. The other teacher killed, Eva Meirelles, was married to one of the first officers to enter the building.
The families have sought justice through multiple legal paths. Federalism Lawsuits were filed at the state level Against law enforcementa weapons manufacturer and video game company Meta Social Media Company Above shooting. These issues are still pending.
The families reached a $2 million settlement with the city, which promised higher standards and better police training.
The relatives also lobbied state and federal lawmakers for stricter gun control laws that never advanced. But earlier this year, Texas lawmakers passed the powerful Uvalde Law, which sets new requirements for active shooter training and shooting response plans for police and schools.
Duran wants accountability not only for her sister but also for her beloved brother-in-law who died two days after the shooting.
Irma’s husband, Joe, was watching a television report on the shooting when he heard that authorities had missed their chance to quickly end the attack. He fell to the ground immediately An apparent heart attackDuran said.
Doran said convicting one officer out of about 400 would not achieve much in the way of justice.
“The only justice will be when they take their last breath,” she said. “And then God will judge them.”