A Nueces County jury has acquitted former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales of all charges in the first criminal trial stemming from the Robb Elementary School shooting, which left 19 children and two teachers dead, Texas Public Radio reports.
The verdict, delivered late Wednesday after two weeks of testimony, rejected all 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child that had been filed against Gonazales, according to TPR.
Prosecutors accused Gonzales of failing act in timely manner to stop the gunman who entered Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022, and carried out one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman.
However, attorneys for Gonzales said he never saw the gunman and acted reasonably given the limited information he had to go on, TPR reports.
Family members of the shooting victims sat in silence as the verdict was read. Some covered their faces and wiped away tears, according to TPR.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster since day one. We prepared for the worst,” said Javier Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died in the shooting. “We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough.”
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