The incident, which occurred at Robb Elementary, saw an 18-year-old gunman claim the lives of 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers, while hundreds of officers waited over an hour to intervene.
According to The Associated Press, the indictments have elicited a blend of relief and frustration among Uvalde families, who have spent the past two years demanding police accountability. Many are questioning why more officers have not been held accountable for their hesitation to enter the classroom, where victims lay dying or pleading for help. This delay contributed to one of the most horrific school shootings in U.S. history.
Former Uvalde schools police Chief Pete Arredondo and former Officer Adrian Gonzales were indicted on June 26 by a Uvalde County grand jury on multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. Their failure to confront the shooter immediately was a key factor in these charges. They were among the first of nearly 400 federal, state, and local officers who arrived at the school that day.
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Velma Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the teachers killed, expressed her desire for justice, stating, “I want every single person who was in the hallway charged for failure to protect the most innocent. My sister put her body in front of those children to protect them, something they could have done. They had the means and the tools to do it. My sister had her body.”
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The future of the case remains uncertain, as Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell has not disclosed whether other officers will be charged or if the grand jury’s work is complete.
The incident unfolded on May 24, 2022, when the gunman stormed into the school and killed his victims in two classrooms. Despite the presence of over 370 officers, the shooter was not confronted for more than 70 minutes, even as the sound of an AR-15-style rifle echoed through the school. Students inside the classrooms dialed 911 in terror, while distraught parents pleaded for intervention by officers, some of whom could hear the gunfire from the hallway. A tactical team of officers eventually entered the classroom and neutralized the shooter.
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The police response has been heavily criticized in state and federal investigative reports, which highlight “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership, and technology.
Arredondo, who was the on-site commander at the shooting, was accused of delaying the police response despite hearing shots fired and receiving reports of injured children in the classrooms and a teacher shot. The indictment stated that Arredondo called for a SWAT team, ordered the initial responding officers to leave the building, and attempted to negotiate with the 18-year-old gunman. His actions were deemed criminal negligence by the grand jury.
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Gonzales was accused of abandoning his training and not confronting the shooter, even after hearing gunshots as he stood in a hallway. All the charges are state jail felonies that carry up to two years in jail if convicted.
In a 2022 interview with the Texas Tribune, Arredondo claimed that he tried to “eliminate any threats, and protect the students and staff.” Gonzalez’s lawyer called the charges “unprecedented in the state of Texas” and stated that the officer believes he did not break any laws or school district policy.
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The first U.S. law enforcement officer ever tried for allegedly failing to act during an on-campus shooting was a campus sheriff’s deputy in Florida who didn’t confront the perpetrator of the 2018 Parkland massacre. The deputy was acquitted of felony neglect last year, but a lawsuit by the victims’ families and survivors is pending.
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The families are seeking accountability from authorities in other state and federal courts. Several have filed multiple civil lawsuits. Two days before the two-year anniversary of the shooting, the families of 19 victims filed a $500 million lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers who were part of the botched response. The lawsuit accuses the troopers of not following their active shooter training and not confronting the shooter. The highest-ranking Department of Public Safety official named as a defendant is South Texas Regional Director Victor Escalon.
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The same families also reached a $2 million settlement with the city under which city leaders promised higher standards for hiring and training local police. On May 24, a group of families sued Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram, and the maker of the video game Call of Duty over claims the companies bear responsibility for the weapons used by the teenage gunman.
As the case continues to unfold, it serves as a stark reminder of the importance of accountability and the need for effective law enforcement training and response in the face of such tragic events.
