Campus Officer Acquitted by Uvalde Elementary Shooting

A Texas jury cleared a former school district police officer of all charges tied to his response during the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting.

• By Ralph C. Jensen
• January 22, 2026

A Corpus Christi, Texas, jury has acquitted a former school district police officer of all charges based on accusations he did not act during the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas. This is only the second prosecution of its kind.

Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officer, was the first member of law enforcement to get to the school while the 18-year-old gunman was still outside.

He was found not guilty Wednesday of 29 counts of child endangerment or abandonment in what was the first criminal case stemming from the tragedy, which claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers in May 2022.

Gonzales, pleaded not guilty to all counts, did not testify in his own defense.

Prosecutors claimed Gonzales did not “follow and attempt to follow his active shooter training.”  They also said Gonzales did nothing to stop the shooter in the early moments of the shooting, despite having enough time and information.

The defense argued Gonzales did not see the gunman when he arrived at the school and worked to evacuate students from classrooms.

Hundreds of police rushed to the school to respond, but it took 77 minutes for them to confront and kill the shooter. Determined to be an excessive amount of time to mount a strategy, it has led to years of investigations and finger-pointing about the delay.

Gonzales declined to speak directly to the victims’ families in a news conference after the verdict. “No, not right now,” when asked if he wanted to say anything to the victim’s families.

The criminal case against Gonzales raised difficult legal questions about the responsibilities of police officers and who can be held accountable for a mass shooting. It was the second case ever brought against a school police officer accused of not acting during an active shooter situation.

In the first such case, a Florida jury acquitted the school resource officer who stayed outside during the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after his attorney had argued the officer couldn’t tell where gunfire was coming from.

Judge Sid Harle read the verdict in court after the jury deliberated for just over seven hours, before thanking the jury for their “close attention” and patience during the trial. “I know it was not easy for you,” Harle said to the jury. “I know everybody was drafted, nobody volunteered.”

Gonzales would have faced six months to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000 for each count if convicted.

The Texas jury began deliberations three weeks into Gonzales’ trial. When Gonzales was acquitted, bereaved family members silently sobbed while others were seen holding their faces and wiping tears.

Three members of Gonzales’ family were seen standing and holding each other while crying, and the former officer was also emotional and in tears as he was cleared of all charges before hugging his defense lawyers.