Nearly four years after the devastating shooting at Robb Elementary School, a former Uvalde school police officer has spoken publicly for the first time since his acquittal. Adrian Gonzales, facing 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment, maintains he has no regrets about his actions on that horrific day, May 24, 2022, when nineteen students and two teachers lost their lives.
The jury reached a verdict after just seven hours of deliberation, a decision that followed a trial where Gonzales remained silent on the stand. His defense team presented only two witnesses, focusing on the chaotic circumstances of the event and the information available at the time.
Investigations revealed a critical 77-minute delay between the arrival of authorities and the moment a tactical team finally breached the classroom, ending the shooter’s rampage. The response of law enforcement has been under intense scrutiny and criticism in the years following the tragedy.
“You can sit here and tell me all you want about what I would have done, or what you would have done,” Gonzales stated in a recent interview. “Until you're in that mix, you can't tell me anything.” He insists that judgment from those not present during the unfolding crisis is unfair and uninformed.
Gonzales was the first officer to arrive at Robb Elementary as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos carried out the attack. He claims he never directly encountered the shooter and retreated inside the school building based on a direct order from his commanding officer. He acted, he says, on the information he was given.
“I did the best that I could with the information I was getting,” Gonzales explained, firmly reiterating his lack of remorse. “I don't regret it, because I took an order from my chief at that time.” He acknowledges the pain of the victims’ families but stands by his adherence to the chain of command.
Gonzales believes he was singled out for prosecution, while the actions of other officers who responded to the scene were not subjected to the same level of scrutiny. He felt targeted as the investigation unfolded, noticing explanations were offered for others’ actions, but none for his.
“When the videos started playing, I realized that they handpicked me,” he said, expressing a sense of injustice. “They had an excuse for everybody else…but I had to do this, I had to do that.”
Following the acquittal, Gonzales expressed profound gratitude. He thanked God, his family, his legal team, and the jury for carefully considering the evidence and reaching their verdict. He described the support system as divinely provided.
The former officer, now 52 years old, is not the only one facing legal consequences for the response to the shooting. Former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo has also been charged with endangerment or abandonment of a child and has pleaded not guilty. His trial date remains undetermined.
