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Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of a former Uvalde school district police officer, charged in connection with the response to the Robb Elementary school shooting in 2022.
Adrian Gonzales faces 29 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child for his alleged inaction during the response.
According to the indictment, Gonzalez failed to “engage, distract or delay the shooter” and failed to follow his active-shooter training to confront the gunman. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Several of the victims' family members will be at the trial in Corpus Christi, including Manuel Rizo, the uncle of 9-year-old fourth-grader Jackie Cazares, who was killed in the attack.
“We're going to hope that the prosecution — the prosecutors, the district attorney and the people that owe this to their constituents — do their job, and they do a damn good job of it,” he told TPR.
The Cazares family is one of 21 families who sued the City of Uvalde over the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers from several agencies responded. But Federal and state reviews described the response as a failure, because officers waited over an hour to confront the gunman.
Kirk Burkhalter, professor of law at New York Law School, said in the public’s mind the trial will be about more than just endangerment — but also the concept of bravery.
“Now keep in mind, bravery, a hero, that's not someone who is not in fear. As a matter of fact, that someone in the face of great fear for personal safety was able to overcome those fears and take action.”
Prosecutors have issued 75 subpoenas as part of the case, underscoring the scope of testimony expected during the trial.
Rizo hopes the trial will provide much needed closure for the families.
“But we want them to highlight every single opportunity Adrian had to protect the children and teachers. And the survivors,” he said.
Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is the only other officer to be indicted. He is awaiting a separate trial.
