Testimony in former Uvalde CISD officer’s trial on hold after what key witness said on the stand

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Uncertainty now surrounds the trial of a former Uvalde CISD police officer who responded to the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting.

That former officer, Adrian Gonzales, was indicted on more than two dozen felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child. In court on Tuesday, there was a surprise claim from a former Robb Elementary teacher that could impact the case, one that the defense said caught them off guard.

The issue was over a key witness’s testimony about what she saw on the day of the Robb Elementary School massacre, something that never came up during pretrial investigations.  

That witness was a teacher at Robb Elementary the day of the shooting. She said she saw a gunman wearing black approaching the school from an area near where Gonzales was. Gonzales’ attorneys said she had not disclosed that in previous witness interviews, and that it would be a key detail about the officer’s location near the shooter.

That led to a lot of wrangling over that witness, and ultimately the judge ended testimony for the day.

As to what happens now, we just don’t know. Both sides are supposed to hash this out with the judge on Wednesday, and the jury is now excused until Thursday. 

Below is an analysis that ran during our live team today of exactly what happened with the witness testimony

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and JIM VERTUNO Associated Press

Families whose loved ones died in the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school massacre sobbed in court while listening to frantic 911 calls during the first day of testimony in the trial of a police officer accused of failing to protect the children by not doing enough to stop the attack.

A prosecutor told jurors Tuesday that former school officer Adrian Gonzales arrived outside the school just before the teenage gunman went inside but didn’t make a move to stop him even when a teacher pointed to where he was firing in a parking lot.

The officer went into Robb Elementary only “after the damage had been done,” special prosecutor Bill Turner said during opening statements.

The judge overseeing the case and attorneys warned jurors that the testimony and images will be emotional and difficult to process. Among those expected to testify will be some of the victims’ families.

Tissue boxes were brought to the families as the testimony began. Some shook their heads as they listened to audio from the first calls for help. Their cries grew louder as the horror unfolded on the recordings.

Defense attorneys disputed that Gonzales — one of two officers charged in the 2022 attack — did nothing, saying he radioed for more help and evacuated children as other police arrived.

“The government makes it want to seem like he just sat there,” said defense attorney Nico LaHood. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”

Prosecutors focused sharply on Gonzales’ steps in the minutes after the shooting began and as the first officers arrived. They did not address the hundreds of other local, state and federal officers who arrived and waited more than an hour to confront the gunman, who was eventually killed by a tactical team of officers.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if convicted.

Witness testimony will resume Thursday morning.

Defense attorneys said Tuesday that Gonzales was focused on assessing where the gunman was while also thinking he was being fired on without protection against a high-powered rifle.

“This isn’t a man waiting around. This isn’t a man failing to act,” defense attorney Jason Goss said.

Gonzales and former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.

Gonzales, a 10-year veteran of the police force, had extensive active shooter training, the special prosecutor said.

“When a child calls 911, we have a right to expect a response,” Turner said, his voice trembling with emotion.

As Gonzales waited outside, children and teachers hid inside darkened classrooms and grabbed scissors “to confront a gunman,” Turner said. “They did as they had been trained.”

It’s rare for an officer to be criminally charged with not doing more to save lives.

“He could have stopped him, but he didn’t want to be the target,” said Velma Lisa Duran, sister of teacher Irma Garcia, who was among the 19 students and two teachers who were killed.

Some families of the victims have voiced anger that more officers were not charged given that nearly 400 federal, state and local officers converged on the school soon after the attack.

An investigation found 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until they breached the classroom and killed Salvador Ramos, who was obsessed with violence and notoriety leading up to the shooting.

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.

The officer’s attorneys told jurors that there was plenty of blame to go around — from the lack of security at the school to police policy — and that prosecutors will try to play on their emotions by showing photos from the scene.

“What the prosecution wants you to do is get mad at Adrian. They are going to try to play on your emotions,” Goss said.

“The monster who hurt these children is dead,” he said.

Prosecutors likely will face a high bar to win a conviction. A Florida sheriff’s deputy was acquitted by a jury after being charged with failing to confront the shooter in the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018 — the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting.

KHOU 11 will stream gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial on KHOU 11+. Here’s how to watch. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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