Jury acquits Uvalde officer of failing to act during school shooting

Amna Nawaz:

Former school police officer Adrian Gonzales was acquitted Wednesday on charges that he failed to act against the gunman during crucial early moments of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The 2022 school shooting, one of the deadliest in American history, left 19 children and two teachers dead. Gonzales was one of the first officers to arrive and one of just two charged for their initial response. At least 370 law enforcement officers ultimately rushed to the school.

Jesse Rizzo, whose 9-year-old niece, Jackie Cazares, was killed that day, spoke after the verdict.

Jesse Rizzo, Uvalde Victim Family Member:

I was very hopeful for guilty verdicts. I mean, at stake, what do we have? We have children at stake, absolutely innocent children that did everything that they were trained to do, hide, turn the lights off.

But the officer that was trained to do exactly, to encounter, to go towards the shooter, to listen to the gunshot, everything, right, and what does he do? Sit back for an hour and change -- I'm sorry -- for a minute in chains while the massacre continues to happen.

Amna Nawaz:

For more on the trial and how the Uvalde community is reacting, I'm joined by Tony Plohetski. He's an investigative reporter for The Austin-American Statesman.

Tony, thanks for joining us.

So, Gonzales was facing 29 counts of abandoning or endangering children. What were prosecutors saying he did wrong and how did his defense team respond?

Tony Plohetski, The Austin-American Statesman:

Amna, this case was, according to experts, going to be legally complicated from the outset.

But prosecutors contend that there were a couple of crucial minutes when Officer Gonzales, who was one of the first officers to arrive at the elementary school, could have intervened or even distracted the gunman prior to his entry into Robb Elementary School.

But his defense set forward a case in which they said he took a number of actions to, in fact, protect children that day. He took a number of steps. And they say that he was also operating in a very confusing, quickly moving and highly dynamic situation.

Amna Nawaz:

What about some of the families? We know they were in the courtroom during this trial. You heard from one of the uncles there. And people have been fighting for accountability. How were they reacting to this acquittal?

Tony Plohetski:

This is the latest in a profound disappointment for the families of those 19 children and two teachers.

They have been calling for action in the 3.5 years since the shooting. They, of course, went to state lawmakers to try to press for some sort of gun reform. And they also were hoping that they would receive some measure of accountability at the criminal courthouse.

Amna, many of them traveled hundreds of miles from their home in Uvalde to Corpus Christi, where this trial was held, for a change of venue, but, again, leaving that courthouse and that courtroom profoundly disappointed in the outcome, but, as we also know, looking ahead to the future, where there will be another trial of former Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.

Amna Nawaz:

And, Tony, what do we know about that upcoming trial? Does this acquittal and this trial mean anything for that other upcoming trial?

Tony Plohetski:

Legal experts I have been talking to today say that the ability -- and we know that prosecutors did have the ability to meet with jurors who delivered that not guilty verdict yesterday evening -- that they did have a chance to receive their feedback.

And so what legal experts say is that they will likely take that information and use it to continue to firm up their case against the former police chief. But, Amna, it's also very important to note that Officer Adrian Gonzales and the police chief, the former police chief, are not similarly situated in terms of their actions that day.

Experts say they took very different actions and also had very different responsibilities. So it is likely, according to numerous experts we have talked to today who have been following these cases, that the prosecution almost undoubtedly will proceed in coming months in this case against the former police chief.

Amna Nawaz:

Tony, I have got less than a minute left, but I have to ask you, because I know you have covered this shooting, as have I, since it happened, in the 3.5 years in this tight-knit community in Uvalde, how are they doing today?

Tony Plohetski:

I think that many of them continue to press forward. They want accountability, but also the profound grief in that community still exists today, as parents try to, as best as anyone could possibly do so, move forward with their lives with what happened to them that terrible day in 2022.

Amna Nawaz:

We should note those children killed that day today would be 12 or 13 years old. Our thoughts are with their families.

Tony Plohetski of The Austin-American Statesman, thank you for joining us.

Tony Plohetski:

Thank you.