Uvalde school police officer pleads not guilty to charges stemming from actions during 2022 mass shooting
UVALDE, Texas — A former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer who was part of the slow law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Thursday.
UVALDE, Texas — A former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer who was part of the slow law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Thursday.
Adrian Gonzales was one of the nearly 400 law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene but then waited more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter inside the school. Teary-eyed family members were in the courtroom in the small Texas town to watch as Gonzales was arraigned on charges of abandoning and failing to protect children who were killed and wounded.
Some of the victims’ families have spent more than two years pressing for officers to face charges after 19 children and two teachers were killed inside the fourth grade classroom. Some have called for more officers to be charged.
“For only two to be indicted, there should have been more because there was a lot of ranking officers during that day that knew what to do but decided not to. But they only got these two,” Jerry Mata, whose 10-year-old daughter Tess was killed, said after the hearing.
“We’ll take what we get and we’re just gonna continue fighting for the kids and the two teachers and see it all the way through,” Mata said.
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