The trial of a Texas police officer charged in the halting law enforcement response to the attack on Robb Elementary heads into a second week Monday with prosecutors continuing to press their case that he did nothing in the early moments to stop the gunman.
Adrian Gonzales, 52, a former Uvalde schools police officer, was among the first officers to arrive on the scene as the gunman approached the school. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment.
The May 24, 2022, attack is one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. It left 19 students and two teachers dead.
The opening days of the trial included dramatic replays of the initial emergency calls, testimony from teachers who huddled with terrified students, and the mother of one of the victims recounting how her daughter had asked to leave school early that day.
The trial's second week could include testimony from experts in police training and more families of the victims. It was unclear if Gonzales planned to testify in his own defense.
Trial focused on a single officer, not the larger police response
Gonzales was among the first of more than 370 federal, state and local officers to arrive at the school. It would take more than an hour for a tactical team to go into a classroom and kill 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos.
The trial is tightly focused on Gonzales' actions. Prosecutors allege he abandoned his active shooter training and did not try to engage or distract the gunman outside the school. They said he failed again minutes later when a group of officers went inside the school only to retreat when they came under heavy gunfire.