CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A former Uvalde police officer was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he failed in his duties to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary during the critical first minutes of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Adrian Gonzalez, 52, not guilty in the first trial over the hesitant law enforcement response to the 2022 attack, which killed 19 children and two teachers.
Gonzales appeared to close his eyes and take a deep breath as he stood to hear the verdict. Afterward he hugged one of his lawyers and appeared to fight back tears.
Former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales listens to closing statements on the 11th day of his trial at the Nueces County Courthouse on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Sam Owens /The San Antonio Express-News via AP, Pool)
Behind him in the courtroom, several members of families of the victims sat in silence, some crying or wiping away tears.
The trial was a rare case in the U.S. of an officer facing criminal charges on accusations of failing to stop a crime and protect lives. Gonzales had faced the possibility of up to two years in prison if convicted.
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The nearly three-week trial included emotional testimony from teachers who were shot and survived. Prosecutors argued that Gonzales abandoned his training and did nothing to stop or interrupt the teenage gunman before he entered the school.
"We're expected to act differently when talking about a child that can't defend themselves," special prosecutor Bill Turner said during closing arguments earlier Wednesday. "If you have a duty to act, you can't stand by while a child is in imminent danger."
At least 370 law enforcement officers rushed to the school, where 77 minutes passed before a tactical team finally entered the classroom to confront and kill the gunman.
Gonzales was one of just two officers indicted, angering some victim's relatives who said they wanted more to be held accountable.
Gonzales was charged with 29 counts of child abandonment and endangerment — each count representing the 19 students who were killed and 10 others who were injured.
Jesse Rizo and his wife Juanita Cazares-Rizo listen to the prosecution and defense deliver their closing statements to the jury on the 11th day of the trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales at the Nueces County Courthouse on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas. T (Sam Owens /The San Antonio Express-News via AP, Pool)
During the trial jurors heard a medical examiner describe the fatal wounds to the children, some of whom were shot more than a dozen times. Several parents told of sending their children to school for an awards ceremony and the panic that ensued as the attack unfolded.
Gonzales' lawyers said he arrived upon a chaotic scene of rifle shots echoing on school grounds and never saw the gunman before the attacker went inside the school. They also insisted three other officers who arrived seconds later had a better chance to stop the gunman.
Gonzales' attorney, Jason Goss, told jurors before they began deliberating that his client was not responsible for the attack.
"The monster that hurt those kids is dead," Goss said. "It is one of the worst things that ever happened."
A conviction would tell police they have to be "perfect" when responding to a crisis and could make them even more hesitant in the future, Goss said.
Special prosecutor Bill Turner delivers a closing statement to the jury on the 11th day of the trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales at the Nueces County Courthouse on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Sam Owens /The San Antonio Express-News via AP, Pool)
Gonzales and former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo are the only two responding officers that day to face charges. Arredondo's trial has not yet been set.
The trial was moved hundreds of miles to Corpus Christi after defense attorneys argued that Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde. Still, some victims' families made the long drive to watch the proceedings.
Early on the sister of one of the teachers killed was removed from the courtroom after an angry outburst following one officer's testimony.
Gonzales' trial was tightly focused on his actions in the early moments of the attack, but prosecutors also presented the graphic and emotional testimony as the result of police failures.
State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.
Prosecutors faced a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the 2018 school massacre in Parkland, Florida. A sheriff's deputy was acquitted after being charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack — the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting.
Remembering the victims of the Uvalde school shooting
Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio, 10
Felix and Kimberly Rubio had just celebrated their daughter Lexi's achievements at school before she was killed.
Lexi, who was 10 years old and in the fourth grade, had made the All-A honor roll and received a good citizen award, her parents told CNN.
"We told her we loved her and would pick her up after school. We had no idea this was goodbye," Kimberly Rubio wrote in a post on Facebook.
The parents told CNN they were proud of their daughter.
"She was kind, sweet, and appreciated life. She was going to be an all-star in softball and had a bright future, whether it's sports or academic. Please let the world know we miss our baby."
Amerie Jo Garza, 10
Hours before the shooting Tuesday morning, Amerie Jo Garza, 10, had posed at school for a photo, smiling as she held a bright certificate celebrating her “A-B” honor roll.
“Thank you everyone for the prayers and help trying to find my baby,” her father, Angel Garza, wrote on Facebook shortly after midnight. “She’s been found. My little love is now flying high with the angels above. Please don’t take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie Jo. Watch over your baby brother for me.”
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
The family of Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez was among many who waited for answers after the shooting. Around 7 p.m. Tuesday, her sister, Lidia Anthony Luna, wrote on Facebook that Annabell was among those killed.
“My little sister didn’t make it she’s not longer with us my poor sweet little girl,” Luna wrote. “Why god why these sweet babies who didn’t deserve this who were all happy for summer vacation.”
Eliahana Cruz Torres, 10
Adolfo Cruz told ABC News late Tuesday night that his granddaughter, Eliahana Cruz Torres, was among those killed in the shooting.
A woman who said she is Eliahana’s aunt told a reporter KENS-TV News that the girl was a fourth grader and a softball player, excited to play her final game that was scheduled the day of the shooting.
The woman, who didn’t give her name, said her sister Sandra Torres, the girl’s mother, had been looking for her child throughout the day with no luck.
“It’s not like my niece not to reach out because when she feels threatened or scared, she’s always calling on her phone. She’ll blow up somebody until somebody answers her.”
The woman said she spoke to her niece the day before the shooting about her upcoming softball game and showed a picture of Eliahana in her softball gear.
“She was very excited about her softball game today. She was kind of nervous,” her aunt said. “She was excited because they were ... going to announce the ones that made it to All-Stars. And she was also saying, like, ‘What if I make it? I’m going to be so nervous.’ And I was like, ‘Girl, you got this. You’re going to be good at it. You got this.’ So she was excited.”
Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, 9
Fourth grader Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, 9, was the second eldest of five girls in her family, a helper around the house who loved “Encanto,” cheerleading and basketball, her grandparents said. She dreamed of wearing a purple dress to her quinceanera, they said, and becoming a teacher.
Grandfather Rogelio Lugo, 63, spent Tuesday driving between hospitals, then waiting at the civic center for the grim news. He watched as officials swabbed his daughter’s and son-in-law’s mouths for DNA to identify his granddaughter.
At about 9:30 p.m., he said, officials started calling parents’ names, summoning them to a back room to inform them that their children were dead.
“When you go in, you know your baby is deceased,” he recalled as he sat in his living room Wednesday, surrounded by family and friends.
When Lugo heard officials call his daughter and son-in-law’s names, he knew his granddaughter was gone. He had last seen Ellie on Sunday. She spent weekends with her grandparents, reminding them to take their pills, helping to mow the lawn, make tostadas and chalupas and babysit her younger sisters. She would even ask to help her grandfather with his excavating work.
“When you’re older,” he would say.
Her older sister Janel Garcia, 11, was her constant companion, flaquita to her gordita. By Wednesday, Janel knew Ellie was dead, but couldn’t really understand, Lugo said.
“She wants her back. They’re always together,” he said.
Lugo raised his children in Uvalde and never felt unsafe. “I’ve seen all the stuff happen in other states, hoping it doesn’t happen here. Now it has,” he said.
His wife, Nelda Lugo, 63, worked as a cook at another Uvalde elementary school that was also placed on lockdown after the shooting. She knew both of the teachers who were killed. Sitting in her kitchen Wednesday surrounded by loved ones, she said the deaths still didn’t seem real.
“This morning I got up and thought, ‘What a dream I had,’” she said.
She had been stockpiling gifts for Ellie’s birthday June 4: leggings and Legos. Ellie’s father, a car salesman and DJ, planned to handle the music — lots of cumbias, which Ellie liked to dance to at her grandparents’ house, filming TikTok videos, she said.
Lugo said she struggled to explain the shooting to Ellie’s 5-year-old sister, who saw her parents on television late Tuesday.
“Why are they at the civic center?” she asked.
“They’re looking for Ellie,” Lugo said.
“Why?” the girl asked.
“They lost her at the school,” Lugo said.
“Why?”
“Because she died,” Lugo said.
Then she put the girl to bed. By morning, Lugo said her granddaughter had stopped asking questions. But her daughter awoke crying.
“It’s very, very sad,” she said.
Eva Mireles, 44
One of the two adult victims in Uvalde was Eva Mireles, a fourth grade teacher who had worked for the district for about 17 years. Her husband, Ruben Ruiz, is a police officer in the school district. He was one of several officers who responded to the shooting and were apparently shot at by the shooter, but he was not injured.
Mireles’ aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, said in a message to the Los Angeles Times that she was furious to lose her niece in such a “tragic” and “senseless” way. The U.S., she said, needed to act on gun laws and expand background checks.
“It’s so easy for young, mental kids to get guns and randomly shoot innocent victims,” she said. “My niece, Eva, lost her life protecting her students. It shouldn’t have to be like this: teachers, parents and students afraid to go to school or send their kids to school.”
In a post on Twitter, Mireles’ daughter described her mother as “the half that makes me whole.”
“You are so known by many now and I’m so happy that people know your name and that beautiful face of yours and they know what a hero looks like,” she wrote, adding: “My heart will forever be broken.”
Irma Garcia
“My tia did not make it,” John Martinez wrote on Twitter about his aunt, Irma Garcia, a fourth grade teacher at Robb Elementary. “She sacrificed herself by protecting the kids in her classroom ... She died a HERO. She was loved by many and will be truly missed.”
According to a GoFundMe page organized for Garcia’s family by Steven Martinez, she was a wife and mother of four children.
“Sweet, kind, loving,” Martinez wrote. “Fun with the greatest personality.”
Her age could not immediately be confirmed.
Jacklyn Cazares, 9
Javier Cazares said his daughter was someone who would give the “shirt off her back” to help someone. “She had a voice,” he said. “She didn’t like bullies, she didn’t like kids being picked on. All in all, full of love. She had a big heart.” Annabelle Rodriguez, also a victim, was Jacklyn's second cousin.
Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
Ten-year-old Jailah Nicole Silguero was killed in the shooting, her mother, Veronica Luevanos, told Univision through tears.
Luevanos said Jailah loved to dance and film videos on TikTok.
“I took her to school, but she didn’t want to go. She told her father, ‘Can I stay home?’” Luevanos said, adding that Jailah didn’t often ask to stay home. “I think she knew something would happen.”
Jailah’s cousin, 10-year-old Jayce Luevanos, was also killed in the shooting, according to Luevanos. She said her brother, Jacye’s father, was taking his death hard.
Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10
Carmelo Quiroz’s grandson had begged to be allowed to join his grandmother on Tuesday as she accompanied her great-granddaughter’s kindergarten class to the San Antonio Zoo. But, he said, the family told Jayce it didn’t make sense to skip school so close to the end of the year. Besides, Jayce liked school. “That’s why my wife is hurting so much, because he wanted to go to San Antonio,” Quiroz told USA Today. “He was so sad he couldn’t go. Maybe if he would have gone, he’d be here.” He died with his cousin, Jailah Nicole Silguero.
Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10
Jose's parents told CNN that the 10-year-old was helpful around the house and loved his younger siblings. “He was just very good with babies,” his mother said. His father told CNN that Jose loved baseball and video games and “was always full of energy.” A photo taken at school Tuesday shows him smiling and proudly holding a certificate to show he made the honor roll.
Layla Salazar
Vincent Salazar said his 10-year-old daughter, Layla, loved to swim and dance to Tik Tok videos. She was fast — she won six races at the school’s field day, and Salazar proudly posted a photo of Layla showing off two of her ribbons on Facebook.
Each morning as he drove her to school in his pickup, Salazar would play “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” by Guns ‘n’ Roses and they’d sing along, he said.
“She was just a whole lot of fun,” he said.
Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
On Tuesday, Brandon Elrod told ABC News that he was still searching for his 10-year-old daughter, Makenna.
“Pretty sad,” he said, choking back tears. “Really sad. I don’t know what this world is coming to.”
Later, a family friend said on Facebook that Makenna had been killed.
“My heart is shattered as my daughter Chloe loved her so much!!” Pilar Newberry wrote, adding: “Just a few weeks ago she got a friendship bracelet from her at the ballpark and she wears it everyday!”
Maite Rodriguez, 10
After a rough time with Zoom classes during the pandemic, Maite Rodriguez made the honor roll for straight As and Bs this year and was recognized at an assembly on Tuesday, said her mother, Ana Rodriguez.
Maite especially liked physical education, and after she died, her teacher texted Ana Rodriguez to say she was highly competitive at kickball and ran faster than all the boys. Her mother described Maite as “focused, competitive, smart, bright, beautiful, happy.” Maite wanted to be a marine biologist and after researching a program at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi she told her mother she wanted to study there.
Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo, 10
Nevaeh Bravo’s cousin posted on social media after the shooting to ask for the public’s help locating the girl. Around 9 p.m., she wrote on Twitter: “Unfortunately my beautiful Nevaeh was one of the many victims from todays tragedy.”
“Thank you for the support and help,” she wrote. “Rest in peace my sweet girl, you didn’t deserve this.”
Rojelio Torres, 10
“Our entire family waited almost 12 hours since the shooting to find out Rojelio Torres my 10 year old nephew, was killed in this tragedy,” Torres’ aunt, Precious Perez, told KSAT. “We are devastated and heartbroken. Rojer was a very intelligent, hard-working and helpful person. He will be missed and never forgotten.”
Tess Marie Mata, 10
Tess Marie Mata was among the students killed, according to a Facebook post by her sister, Faith Mata.
“I honestly have no words just sadness, confusion, and anger,” she wrote. “I’m sad because we will never get to tag team on mom and dad again and tell each other how much we mean to each other, I’m confused because how can something like this happen to my sweet, caring, and beautiful sister, and I’m angry because a coward took you from us.”
A series of pictures accompanying the post showed Tess smiling in a baby photo, snoozing in bed, snuggling with a cat, doing the splits, flashing a peace sign and posing in front of a large heart mural.
“Sissy I miss you so much, I just want to hold you and tell you how pretty you are, I want to take you outside and practice softball, I want to go on one last family vacation, I want to hear your contagious laugh, and I want you to hear me tell you how much I love you,” her sister wrote.
Uziyah Garcia, 8
Eight-year-old Uziyah Garcia was among the Robb Elementary students killed Tuesday, his grandfather, Manny Renfro, told The Associated Press.
“The sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known,” Renfro said. “I’m not just saying that because he was my grandkid.”
Xavier Lopez, 10
Felicha Martinez told The Washington Post that her 10-year-old son, Xavier Lopez, was killed.
“He was funny, never serious and his smile,” she said. “That smile I will never forget. It would always cheer anyone up.”
She watched him receive an honor roll certificate just hours before he was killed.
Xavier Lopez, 10
Felicha Martinez told The Washington Post that her 10-year-old son, Xavier Lopez, was killed.
“He was funny, never serious and his smile,” she said. “That smile I will never forget. It would always cheer anyone up.”
She watched him receive an honor roll certificate just hours before he was killed.
Alithia Ramirez, 10
Alithia Ramirez loved soccer and she really loved to draw. Her father Ryan Ramirez’s Facebook page includes a photo, now shown around the world, of the little girl wearing the multi-colored T-shirt that announced she was out of “single digits” after turning 10 years old. The same photo was posted again Wednesday with no words, but with Alithia wearing angel wings.
Miranda Mathis, 11
Eleven-year-old Miranda Mathis’ family was searching for her after the shooting, according to her cousin, Deanna Miller.
“Please lord hear our prayers and please let these babies just be misplaced and harm free,” Miller wrote in a post on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, Miller shared a photo of Miranda with angel wings and a halo.
“My sweet baby cousin we loved u dearly,” she wrote.
