Adrian Gonzales, the former Uvalde CISD police officer found not guilty of child endangerment in his response to the Robb Elementary shooting, spoke to ABC in his first interview since he was acquitted.
On Wednesday, Gonzales was found not guilty of all 29 charges of child endangerment against him. The 29 charges represented the 29 children who were killed or injured in the May 24, 2022 shooting.
Gonzales, 52, didn’t testify during his trial. On Thursday, he sat down with ABC’s John Quiñones to talk about his actions during the Robb Elementary shooting.
Gonzales was the first officer to arrive at Rob Elementary, but he says he never saw the shooter and went into the school within minutes.
“You can sit here and tell me all you want about what I would have done, or what you would have done. Until you’re in that mix, you can’t tell me anything,” Gonzales told Quiñones.
Gonzales said a guilty verdict would have had a chilling effect on how officers respond to the next school shooting if they had to fear prosecution.
Gonzales was one of two now-former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officers charged with child endangerment regarding their response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.
The other officer, former Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo, has yet to go to trial in his child endangerment case. Arredondo is facing 10 child endangerment charges.
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