Prosecutor: Officer did nothing until it was too late

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas judge seated a jury Monday in the trial of a former school police officer in Uvalde who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response to one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history and has been charged with failing to protect children from the gunman. Adrian Gonzales, one of the first officers to respond to the 2022 attack, is charged with 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment in a rare prosecution of an officer accused of not doing more to save lives. Authorities waited more than an hour to confront the teenage shooter who killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has said the officer tried to save children that day. The panel of 12 jurors and four alternates were seated Monday evening by Judge Sid Harle, after hundreds of prospective jurors were asked what they knew about the response and their impressions of what happened. The judge had said the court was not looking for jurors who knew nothing about the shooting but wanted those who could be impartial. About 100 people were dismissed after saying they already formed opinions. One man said more officers should be on trial, while a teacher said she would throw herself in front of her students to protect them. Bill Turner, a special prosecutor, told potential jurors they would need to consider whether the inaction of the officer proved harmful. "If there is a duty to act and you fail to act, that's child endangerment," he said. The judge said the trial was expected to last about two weeks. Among the potential witnesses are FBI agents, rangers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, school employees and family members of the victims. Nearly 400 officers from state, local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the school, but 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until a tactical team breached the classroom and killed the shooter, Salvador Ramos. An investigation later showed that Ramos was obsessed with violence and notoriety in the months leading up to the attack. Gonzales and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo were among the first on the scene, and they are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo's trial has not been scheduled. The charges against Gonzales carry up to two years in prison if he is convicted. Police and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott initially said swift law enforcement action killed Ramos and saved lives. But that version quickly unraveled as families described begging police to go into the building and 911 calls emerged from students pleading for help. The indictment alleges Gonzales placed children in "imminent danger" of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his active shooter training. The allegations also say he did not advance toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told where the shooter was. 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. According to the state review, Gonzales told investigators that once police realized there were students still sitting in other classrooms, he helped evacuate them. Some family members of the victims have said more officers should be indicted. "They all waited and allowed children and teachers to die," said Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the two teachers who were killed. Prosecutors will likely face a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018. Sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. It was the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting, and Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023. At the request of Gonzales' attorneys, the trial was moved about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast to Corpus Christi. They argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde, and prosecutors did not object. Uvalde, a town of 15,000, still has several prominent reminders of the shooting. Robb Elementary is closed but still stands, and a memorial of 21 crosses and flower sits near the school sign. Jesse Rizo, whose 9-year-old niece Jackie was one of the students killed, said even with a three-hour drive to Corpus Christi, the family would like to have someone attend the trial every day. "It's important that the jury see that Jackie had a big, strong family," Rizo said. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Juan A. Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.