CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The trial of a former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer accused of failing in his duty to stop a gunman in the critical first minutes of the 2022 Robb Elementary School attack was expected to go to the jury on Wednesday.
Jurors will hear closing arguments from Adrian Gonzales ' attorneys and state prosecutors before starting deliberations in a rare trial of a police officer charged with failing to stop a criminal act to save lives.
Gonzales, one of the first officers to arrive during the attack, has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment for the 19 students killed and 10 more who were wounded. Two teachers were also killed by the teenage gunman. Gonzales faces up to two years in jail if convicted.
Gonzales did not take the stand in his own defense before both sides rested their case Tuesday.
''Every second counts in an active shooter situation.'' special prosecutor Bill Turner said Tuesday, drilling down on three minutes between when Gonzales first arrived and when he went into the building. ''Every second, more victims can die if a police officer is standing and waiting.''
Prosecutors called 36 witnesses over nine days in a trial that began Jan. 5. Gonzales' attorneys presented just two witnesses, starting with a woman who worked across the street from the school and who told jurors she saw the shooter ducking between cars and trying to stay out of view — testimony that could reinforce Gonzales' claims that he never saw the gunman.
Jurors have heard emotional testimony from teachers who recounted the terrifying moments when the 18-year-old gunman entered the school. Prosecutors have presented graphic photos from inside the classrooms and questioned officers who described the chaos of the response.
The trial was moved hundreds of miles to Corpus Christi after defense attorneys argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde. Still, some victims' families have made the long drive to watch the proceedings.
