Former Uvalde college police officer Adrian Gonzales says he has no regrets about his actions practically 4 years in the past when he was the primary officer to answer the mass capturing at Robb Elementary College.
In his first interview since being acquitted Wednesday night time all counts, Gonzales mentioned he stood by his actions and argued he was scapegoated by prosecutors on the lookout for somebody responsible.
“You’ll be able to sit right here and inform me all you need about what I might have finished, or what you’d have finished. Till you are in that blend, you’ll be able to’t inform me something,” Gonzales instructed ABC Information’ John Quiñones.
Former Uvalde college police officer Adrian Gonzales spoke with ABC Information’ John Quiñones after his acquittal.
ABC Information
The police response to the mass capturing has been the topic of intense criticism within the years since 19 college students and two academics have been killed on the college.
Practically 400 legislation enforcement officers responded that day, but it surely took 77 minutes for officers to mount a counterassault. Gonzales was charged with 29 counts of kid endangerment — one in every of two officers to face prison costs for his position within the police response. After a two-week trial, a jury acquitted Gonzales on all counts after seven hours of deliberations, prompting frustration from among the households of victims who attended the trial.
Evadulia Orta, proper, rubs the shoulder of Javier Cazares as they react to the announcement that the jury discovered former Uvalde college district police officer Adrian Gonzales not responsible on the Nueces County Courthouse, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Sam Owens/The San Antonio Categorical-Information through AP
“We had a bit of hope, but it surely wasn’t sufficient,” mentioned Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died within the capturing. “Once more, we’re failed. I do not even know what to say.”
Gonzales mentioned he was grateful to the jury for the decision however mentioned he understands that the households have been pissed off with the result.
“No matter I say to them, I do know it is not going to ease their ache, however … they’re at all times in my prayers, you understand, to allow them to begin therapeutic,” he mentioned.
Moms of Robb Elementary College capturing victims, from left, Sandra Torres, Veronica Luevanos, and Felicha Martinez cry collectively outdoors the Nueces County Courthouse, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas, after former Uvalde college district police officer Adrian Gonzales was discovered not responsible.
Sam Owens/The San Antonio Categorical-Information through AP
Talking with ABC Information, Gonzales walked via his actions the day of the capturing and mentioned he did all he might to cease the violence. After arriving on the college within the late morning of the final day of faculty, Gonzales mentioned he didn’t see the shooter however was one of many first officers to attempt to enter Robb Elementary. Gonzales mentioned he solely retreated from inside the varsity constructing as a result of he obtained a direct order from his commanding officer.
“I did the most effective that I might with the knowledge I used to be getting,” he mentioned, including, “I do not remorse it, as a result of I took an order from my chief at the moment.”
Gonzales, 52, first started working as a college police officer after a decade with the Uvalde Police Division. He beforehand spent 18 years as a instructor, coached a neighborhood soccer workforce in Uvalde, and refereed youth sports activities video games. Since his indictment, Gonzales mentioned he appears like a pariah in Uvalde and mentioned he needed to relocate along with his household.
“Working with youngsters was a ardour for me,” he mentioned. “After I bought the chance to come back again to the varsity as an officer, I took it and, sadly, it is not the identical.”
Gonzales mentioned he believes all of his actions that day have been justified and that he was selectively prosecuted.
“When the movies began enjoying, I noticed that they handpicked me,” he mentioned. “That they had an excuse for everyone else. They did this, they did that, you understand, however I had to do that, I had to do this.”
Former Uvalde college police officer Adrian Gonzales (middle) is seen along with his attorneys Jason Goss (left) and Nico LaHood (proper) throughout an ABC Information interview after his acquittal.
ABC Information
His lawyer, Nico LaHood, argued that prosecutors charged him as a result of they thought he can be “a straightforward goal.”
“He was the bottom man on the totem pole. He was the primary on the scene,” LaHood mentioned. “Once you actually take a look at the scenario within the totality of the circumstances, you see that Adrian went to the hazard initially, after which additional went to the hazard when he was one of many first 5 officers that went to that constructing.”
One other Gonzales lawyer, Jason Goss, argued that prosecutors did the victims of the capturing a disservice by charging Gonzales, offering them false hope that his conviction may ship accountability.
“The injustice was in beginning by telling the household that Adrian was accountable as a result of he was not,” he mentioned. “The jury has decided that he was not, they usually got here to the proper verdict, however in fact, the household does not really feel right, however that is as a result of they have been instructed one thing totally different.”
Gonzales mentioned he fears his trial and the will to carry particular person cops accountable might need pulled focus away from points that may make a distinction sooner or later, like higher coaching, response protocols or funding for varsity cops.
(FILES) Crosses set as much as honor those that misplaced their lives throughout the Robb Elementary College capturing are seen in Uvalde, Texas on November 8, 2022. A US jury on January 21, 2026 acquitted the previous college police officer for his response to a 2022 mass capturing at a Texas elementary college which killed 21 folks, together with 19 kids — the the frustration of the victims’s households.
Mark Felix/AFP through Getty Pictures
“It is going to occur once more. You recognize, we do not know when, we do not know the place, however it should occur once more,” he mentioned. “Simply need this tragedy to make one other college higher, one other neighborhood higher, so no one has to undergo this.”
Uvalde District Lawyer Christina Mitchell declined to remark and has not defined her rationale for charging Gonzales and former Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Gonzales mentioned he speaks with Arredondo every day and believes he’s harmless. Arredondo was charged with 10 counts of kid endangerment for his response to the capturing, however his case has been delayed by a pending civil lawsuit.
“That is the primary battle, and we’ll win the second,” Gonzales mentioned.
An lawyer for Arredondo instructed ABC Information mentioned he’s wanting ahead to the chance for “full and full exoneration.”
ABC Information’ Juan Renteria contributed to this report.
