A school cop in Uvalde, Texas, stood by as a gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers — with the officer only finally entering the building “after the damage had been done,” a prosecutor charged during opening statements Tuesday.
Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde schools officer, didn’t try to stop or distract the teen shooter, Salvador Ramos, when he saw him outside Robb Elementary, even though a teacher had signaled in the direction of Ramos for Gonzales, special prosecutor Bill Turner told jurors in Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Instead, Gonzales waited until minutes later to enter the school “after the damage had been done,” Turner alleged.
Gonzales is one of two officers who prosecutors took the rare step of bringing criminal charges against for allegedly failing to do more to save lives in one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
No others have been prosecuted in the case even though hundreds of law enforcement agents waited 77 minutes before breaking into the classroom and killing Ramos.
Gonzales pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment.
His lawyer, Nico LaHood, in his own opening statements told jurors his client helped clear kids from the school as other cops were arriving.
“The government wants it to seem like he just sat there,” LaHood told the jury. “He did what he could, with what he knew at the time.”
And Gonzales’ other lawyer, Jason Goss, said Gonzales was trying to figure out where Ramos was — all while believing he was being fired at while he wasn’t wearing protective gear.
“This isn’t a man waiting around. This isn’t a man failing to act,” Goss said.
Goss also implied that Gonzales is just one of some 400 law enforcement that could be blamed in the incident, adding that the school security team was understaffed and the police response policy was lacking.
And prosecutors would unfairly seek to use graphic and emotional photos of the scene to get a conviction of Gonzales, Goss said.
“What the prosecution wants you to do is get mad at Adrian,” Goss said. “They are going to try to play on your emotions.”
“The monster who hurt these children is dead,” he said. “He did not get this justice.”
But Turner said as part of Gonzales’ police training, as a cop of 10 years, he should have ran toward danger.
Meanwhile, terrified teachers and kids were forced to hide inside their classrooms and grab scissors “to confront a gunman … They did as they had been trained,” Turner said during his emotional statements.
Velma Lisa Duran, the sister of teacher Irma Garcia who was killed in the ambush, attended court Tuesday and ripped Gonzales in a statement to reporters.
“He could have stopped him, but he didn’t want to be the target,” Duran said.
She also accused cops of doing nothing while her sister “died protecting children.”
The trial is expected to last for two weeks.
Gonzales faces up to two years behind bars if he’s convicted in the unique and rare prosecution.
Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo is the second officer charged in the case. A trial date yet to be set in his case.
With Post wires
