Uvalde school officer pleads not guilty to charges stemming from mass shooting

A former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer who responded to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary pleaded not guilty in court Thursday to charges related to the law enforcement's response.

Adrian Gonzales entered a not guilty plea on charges of abandoning and failing to protect children during an appearance Thursday at the Uvalde County Courthouse, the Associated Press reported.

It comes more than two years since a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School and killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers in one of the worst shootings in the U.S.'s history.

Gonzales was among the nearly 400 law enforcement officers who responded to Robb Elementary, but waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the shooter.

He is one of two former Uvalde school officers to face criminal charges over the response and was indicted last month, the news wire reported. Pete Arrendono, the former police chief for schools in Uvalde, was also indicted and faces similar charges.

Gonzales, who was one of the first officers to arrive, was indicted on 29 charges alleging he abandoned his training and failed to confront the shooter even as gunshots were heard while he was in the hall, the news wire reported.

Gonzales and Arrendono were both released on bond following their indictments.

Arredondo was charged with 10 state jail felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child, per the AP.

Some families of the victims have spent the past two years urging for officers to face charges, and some argue more officers need 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, per the AP.

“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 added.

In May, the families of the 19 victims filed a lawsuit against more than 90 officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, along with the Uvalde School District, former Robb Elementary Principal Mandy Gutierrez and Arredondo.

The families and their attorneys have pointed to the Department of Justice’s report — released in January — about law enforcements’ response.

The report painted a scathing picture of the response and found Uvalde district police officers failed to have a coherent, well-prepared plan for an active shooter attack, despite receiving active shooter response training prior to the incident.

The DOJ found that the police had no such unified policy and that even months after the shooting, “there were still no policies and procedures.”

The families reached a separate $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde which involved a pledge from the city to enforce improved training for officers.